The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the 2027 elections will commence on October 9, 2026.
INEC made this known in a statement on Monday following an assessment visit by its chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, and his team to Kaduna State.
The commission said the visit to the North-West is part of its 2027 General Election readiness assessment.
Speaking in Kaduna, Amupitan directed officials to close operational gaps, strengthen neutrality and ensure that no avoidable weakness undermines the credibility of the forthcoming elections.
The INEC Chairman gave the charge on Monday in Kaduna at the North-West Zonal Interactive Meeting with Staff and Readiness Assessment for the 2027 General Election.
The engagement is part of INEC’s six-zone national tour aimed at assessing the Commission’s preparedness for the elections, identifying challenges confronting its field operations and developing practical solutions ahead of the polls.
Declaring the North-West zonal engagement open, the INEC Chairman said the Commission’s presence in Kaduna was not merely an administrative exercise but part of efforts to strengthen the foundations of the country’s electoral process.
Amupitan said election success was ultimately determined at the grassroots, particularly at Local Government Areas, Registration Area Centres and polling units where electoral officials interact directly with voters.
“The true success of any election is not decided solely in the meeting rooms of our headquarters in Abuja. It is decided in the field,” he said.
He urged staff to use the engagement to present practical challenges affecting election administration in their respective areas and work with headquarters to develop solutions before election day.
The Chairman said the Commission was building on lessons from recent elections while preparing for the larger national assignment in 2027.
He warned electoral officials against partisan conduct and administrative negligence, stressing that the neutrality and professionalism of field personnel would be critical to public confidence in the electoral process.
The Chairman said three phases of Continuous Voter Registration had produced 10,772,421 new registrations, subject to Automated Biometric Identification System verification.
The Chairman called for the elimination of PVC distribution bottlenecks at the Local Government Area level so that eligible citizens would not be disenfranchised because of logistics.
He also disclosed that INEC was refining its technological systems, including voter verification and result transmission processes, as well as its Result Management Systems, including the recently introduced eEC8A.
The Commission, he said, was also implementing a “Zero-Failure” approach to logistics, covering early deployment of materials, movement, security coordination and training of ad-hoc personnel.
Source