2027: INEC Begins Nationwide PVC Collection Friday

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that nationwide collection of Permanent Voter Cards will begin on Friday, October 9, ahead of the 2027 general elections.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Monday at a strategic workshop for media executives organised by the commission in collaboration with Development Alternatives Incorporated and the Nigerian Guild of Editors in Abuja.

Amupitan said the National Register of Voters had risen to more than 103 million, following the three-phase Continuous Voter Registration exercise which attracted more than 10.6 million new applicants.

He added that the preliminary register had been displayed for claims and objections and that the final Automated Biometric Identification System cleanup had been completed.

The INEC chairman said the commission was committed to a transparent, technology-driven and credible electoral process, including continuous improvement of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the INEC Result Viewing Portal.

He described public trust as the ultimate determinant of electoral integrity.

The Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mrs Victoria Eta-Messi, urged the media to counter misinformation and disinformation with accurate information, while INEC Chief Press Secretary, Mr Adedayo Oketola, called for a 24-hour fact-verification mechanism between newsrooms and the commission.

The Executive Director of the Centre for Media and Society, Dr Akin Akingbulu, urged journalists to verify information before publication, while the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mr Eze Anaba, called for accuracy, fairness, balance and public-interest reporting ahead of the elections.

Punch