Amupitan Orders Review Of PVC Distribution In South-East

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has directed officials of the commission in the South-East to review Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) records and remove bottlenecks hindering the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Amupitan gave the directive on Tuesday in Enugu during an interactive meeting with INEC staff in the zone as part of the commission’s readiness assessment for the 2027 general elections.

He said the Commission’s priority in the region was to ensure that every eligible citizen who had registered was able to collect their PVC and exercise their franchise without administrative or logistical obstacles.

“Our objective is uncompromising: no eligible citizen who registered should be disenfranchised by administrative or logistical friction,” he said.

The INEC chairman disclosed that the National Register of Voters had grown to more than 103 million, following three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise conducted between August 2025 and July 2026.

According to him, the first phase, which ran from August 25 to December 10, 2025, recorded 2,611,266 new registrants, while the second phase, conducted between January 5 and April 17, 2026, recorded 4,121,835.

He added that the third phase, which lasted from May 11 to July 26, 2026, registered another 3,867,997 voters.

The figures are subject to final verification through the commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) to eliminate duplicate registrations.

Amupitan also disclosed that INEC introduced an online registration portal during the third phase of the exercise to address geographical and time-related barriers that could prevent eligible Nigerians from registering.

He said the commission had also activated printable PVC technology in line with Section 18(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, an innovation expected to reduce delays associated with the collection of voters’ cards.

The INEC chairman explained that the South-East engagement was the third in a series of nationwide physical readiness assessment visits, following similar exercises in Lagos on September 7 and Kaduna on September 28, 2026.

He said the visits were designed to assess the commission’s operational preparedness and strengthen coordination among officials ahead of the 2027 elections.

Amupitan noted that the Enugu visit was particularly significant because no INEC chairman had visited the commission’s Enugu office since 1999.

He said the Commission was moving away from relying solely on delegated administrative structures and headquarters-level engagements to assess preparations in the field.

According to him, the success of the 2027 elections will depend largely on the readiness of officials at the grassroots, including personnel working across the 95 local government areas in the South-East, registration area centres and polling units.

He reminded officials that the elections would involve more than 103 million registered voters across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with 176,846 polling units nationwide.

Amupitan urged INEC personnel to recognise their responsibilities in ensuring that eligible voters were not denied the opportunity to participate in the electoral process.

He expressed confidence in the commission’s preparedness, saying officials must remain committed to delivering credible elections in 2027.