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The Independent National Electoral Commission is preparing to introduce downloadable Permanent Voter Cards for voters who have misplaced or defaced their original cards as part of efforts to modernise electoral processes ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan disclosed this on Wednesday when he received the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
According to Amupitan, the downloadable PVC option will not be available automatically or to first-time registrants who have never collected a physical card.
“It is not every PVC that is downloadable. You must have gotten your PVC before and it must be that the PVC is lost, defaced or if you cannot read your numbers there,” he stated.
In order for the commission to handle the replacement, he stated that impacted voters must formally file a complaint at least ninety days prior to an election.
The commission will test the downloadable PVC technology during the August off-cycle Osun governorship election, according to Amupitan.
He also revealed that INEC was wrapping up the development of a technology that would enable qualified citizens to complete their voter registration entirely online, without having to go to INEC offices to have their biometrics taken.
“We have also been working on the technology that is going to make it possible for the registration of voters online without even having to visit INEC local government or registration areas. So hopefully in the next few days, we will be testing it as soon as the commission approves it,” he said.
According to Amupitan, the developments were intended to remove citizens’ sense of disenfranchisement and guarantee that anyone who wanted to register could do so without difficulty.
