By Nkechi Eze
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, has directed a review of Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) records in the South-East and the removal of all bottlenecks hindering the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the 2027 general election.
Amupitan gave the directive on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, in Enugu during the commission’s South-East Zonal Interactive Meeting with Staff and Readiness Assessment for the 2027 General Election.
According to the INEC chairman, the commission’s immediate operational priority in the zone is to review local voter registration records and address administrative and logistical challenges affecting PVC distribution.
“Our objective is uncompromising: no eligible citizen who registered should be disenfranchised by administrative or logistical friction,” he said.
Amupitan disclosed that Nigeria’s National Register of Voters now contains more than 103 million registered citizens, while the three phases of the CVR exercise conducted between August 2025 and July 2026 produced 10,772,421 new registrants, subject to final Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) deduplication verification at the commission’s headquarters.
He explained that the first phase, conducted from August 25 to December 10, 2025, recorded 2,611,266 registrants, while the second phase, held between January 5 and April 17, 2026, produced 4,121,835 new voters.
The third phase, which ran from May 11 to July 26, 2026, recorded another 3,867,997 registrants.
The INEC chairman said the commission introduced an online registration portal during the third phase to reduce barriers associated with distance and time, adding that it had also activated printable PVC technology in line with Section 18(1) of the Electoral Act 2026.
He said the innovation was designed to reduce delays in voter card collection and improve access for eligible voters.
Amupitan described the Enugu engagement as the third stop on the commission’s nationwide election readiness assessment tour, following meetings in Lagos on September 7 and Kaduna on September 28, 2026.
He said his physical presence in Enugu, accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, reflected a shift towards direct engagement with field officials and closer monitoring of operational preparedness.
According to him, the success of the 2027 elections would depend significantly on the performance of electoral officials across the South-East’s 95 local government areas, registration area centres and polling units.
He reminded staff that the presidential and National Assembly elections would hold on January 16, 2027, while the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections were scheduled for February 6, 2027.
The chairman noted that the commission had completed nine of the 14 major statutory milestones in its revised timetable and schedule of activities, following a national stakeholders’ engagement held in Abuja to mark 100 days to the first ballot.
He commended INEC personnel for their roles in the Osun State off-cycle governorship election, elections in Anambra and Ekiti states, the Federal Capital Territory Area Council polls and 16 federal and state bye-elections.
However, he identified declining public trust, voter apathy, misinformation and disinformation as major challenges facing the commission ahead of the 2027 elections.
“A single malicious fake news post, an unverified rumour, or a deepfake video can travel across millions of screens in seconds,” he warned, stressing that administrative competence and timely communication would be critical to countering false narratives.
On election security, Amupitan said INEC had strengthened its partnership with the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) and was working with security agencies to develop an intelligence-driven security framework.
He disclosed that intelligence provided by the Department of State Services (DSS) had helped uncover and arrest individuals allegedly involved in a plot targeting the commission’s ad hoc personnel, particularly members of the National Youth Service Corps, adding that they would soon be prosecuted.
The chairman also announced plans to convene a security conference to address emerging threats to the electoral process.
On technology, he said INEC was refining its result management systems, including the newly introduced eEC8A electronic verification platform, to strengthen result verification and transparency through the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
He warned that partisan conduct, administrative negligence, extortion and ethical breaches would not be tolerated, reminding electoral personnel of their legal obligations to uphold neutrality and comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.
Amupitan further disclosed that the commission had procured and distributed new operational pickup vehicles to state offices and local government areas nationwide under its zero-failure logistics protocol. He also cited the establishment of the Electoral Logistics Committee, chaired by Rear Admiral Jamila Malafa (Rtd.), to improve election logistics coordination.
On staff welfare, he said the commission had introduced the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure (CEMBSS), effective January 1, 2026, and was at an advanced stage of implementing an improved salary and welfare package for staff, commission members and Resident Electoral Commissioners.
He added that monthly overhead allocations to state offices had been increased by 150 per cent with effect from July 1, 2026.
The INEC chairman urged electoral officials to understand the law, remain impartial, document their actions and protect the integrity of the electoral process.
“To the voter in a rural ward or an urban center, INEC is not the Chairman in Abuja; INEC is you,” he said, urging personnel to recognise their responsibility as the link between the law and the electorate.
He expressed confidence in the commission’s preparedness for the 2027 general election, declaring that the institution would remain committed to delivering a credible electoral process.
