Precious Nwonu, Enugu

The Independent National Electoral Commission has fixed October 9, 2026, for the nationwide collection of newly issued Permanent Voter Cards ahead of the 2027 general elections.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, announced the date on Monday in Kaduna during the commission’s North-West Zonal Interactive Meeting with staff and readiness assessment for the 2027 elections.

The announcement followed the completion of three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise, which recorded 10,772,421 new registrations. The new registrations are subject to biometric verification to identify and remove multiple or ineligible entries.

Supervising National Commissioner for Kaduna, Mohammed Kudu Haruna, said Amupitan had earlier communicated the collection date to the Emir of Zazzau during a courtesy visit.

Haruna urged traditional rulers to mobilise eligible citizens in their communities to collect their PVCs and participate in the electoral process.

The INEC chairman also directed the commission’s officials to address bottlenecks that could prevent eligible voters from obtaining their cards, particularly at the local government level.

Amupitan said the commission was adopting a “Zero-Failure” approach to election logistics, covering the early deployment of electoral materials, transportation, security coordination and training of ad hoc personnel.

He also warned electoral officers against partisan conduct, administrative negligence and other actions that could undermine public confidence in the electoral process.

According to him, polling units must open on time, officials must remain neutral and technical challenges must be promptly addressed to prevent avoidable problems from affecting the credibility of the elections.

Amupitan said the Kaduna engagement formed part of a six-zone readiness assessment tour designed to identify operational challenges and strengthen INEC’s preparations ahead of the 2027 polls.

The commission is also refining its technology systems for voter verification and result transmission, including its Result Management System and the recently introduced electronic EC8A.

Earlier, INEC Director of Planning and Monitoring, Helen Ajayi, said the zonal meetings were designed to assess the preparedness of states, identify operational challenges and ensure that personnel remained aligned with the commission’s code of conduct.

The commission has urged eligible voters to monitor its official platforms for further information on PVC collection arrangements and designated collection centres. Its voter portal also allows registered voters to check their PVC status and locate their collection centres.