Hoarding PVCs won’t influence 2027 election outcome — INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission has dismissed the belief that politicians can influence elections by stockpiling Permanent Voter Cards, insisting that such tactics are no longer effective under Nigeria’s electoral system.

The Head of Voter Education and Publicity, INEC Kwara State, Dr Adejumo Peter, stated this on Thursday during a seminar organised by the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Ilorin.

According to him, technological safeguards introduced by the commission have made it impossible for anyone to vote with another person’s PVC, forcing politicians who seek to manipulate elections to adopt other methods.

“INEC has introduced measures that make it impossible for anyone to use another person’s PVC to vote. That is why politicians have shifted their focus to vote-buying. Many politicians are still living in the past. Stockpiling and carting away PVCs can no longer guarantee electoral victory,” he said.

Peter assured Nigerians that the commission would conduct free, fair and credible elections in 2027, stressing that every valid vote would count and that the results would reflect the will of the electorate.

He also pledged that INEC in Kwara State would strictly comply with the Electoral Act and the commission’s guidelines in the conduct of the polls.

“We will ensure that the elections are conducted on the basis of one person, one vote. At the end of the exercise, the outcome will reflect the will of the people,” he said.

The INEC official urged political parties and their candidates to focus on issue-based campaigns and avoid violence before, during and after the elections.

Speaking at the seminar themed, Dissecting the Amended Electoral Act 2026: Innovations and Implications for Nigeria’s 2027 General Elections, the Head of INEC’s Legal Unit in Kwara State, Abdulfatai Atata, described the amended Electoral Act as a major step in Nigeria’s electoral reform process.

He said the legislation introduced measures aimed at improving transparency, strengthening internal party democracy and expanding the use of technology in elections, while noting that its success would depend on effective implementation, institutional capacity and judicial interpretation.

Atata added that although the law contains significant reforms, it also raises legal and practical issues, including campaign finance enforcement, constitutional consistency, internal party disputes and election petition procedures, which would require careful application ahead of the 2027 general elections.