The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, has instructed that the Commission's Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, documentation in the South-East undergo comprehensive review.
He also directed that all impediments to the delivery of Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, throughout the zone be eliminated in preparation for the 2027 general election.
Prof. Amupitan issued this instruction on Tuesday in Enugu during the South-East Zonal Interactive Meeting concerning Staff and Readiness Assessment for the 2027 General Election.
He stated that the Commission's "principal operational priority in the South-East is to examine our regional CVR documentation and eliminate every constraint hindering Permanent Voters Card, PVC, delivery."
The INEC Chairman emphasized that the Commission's stance on the matter remained resolute.
"Our commitment is unwavering: no qualified citizen who has registered shall be excluded from voting due to administrative or logistical challenges," he stated.
He indicated that the National Register of Voters has reached approximately 103 million registered citizens.
Amupitan referenced that, pursuant to Section 10 of the Electoral Act 2026, the Commission executed three sequential phases of the CVR initiative.
According to him, Phase I, spanning from 25th August, 2025 to 10th December, 2025, enrolled 2,611,266 voters, whereas Phase II, conducted between 5th January, 2026 and 17th April, 2026, enrolled 4,121,835 voters.
He further noted that Phase III, implemented from 11th May, 2026 to 26th July, 2026, enrolled 3,867,997 voters.
The INEC Chairman reported that those figures resulted in a cumulative total of 10,601,098 new registrants, contingent upon final Automated Biometric Identification System, ABIS, deduplication verification at the National Headquarters.
He revealed that during the third phase, the Commission introduced, for the inaugural time in Nigeria, the Online Registration Portal, a technological solution engineered "to overcome geographical and temporal constraints."
The INEC Chairman further stated that the Commission had implemented Printable PVC technology in accordance with Section 18(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, emphasizing that this innovation guarantees that "the prolonged waiting period for collecting a voter's card will become obsolete."
The Enugu engagement, representing the third phase of the Commission's comprehensive nationwide readiness assessment tour, succeeded the South-West edition held in Lagos on 7th September 2026 and the North-West edition conducted in Kaduna on 28th September 2026.
Amupitan noted that the visit held particular significance as no INEC Chairman had visited the Enugu office since 1999.
He observed that, throughout the preceding 27 years, zonal preparations of comparable scale had been managed through delegated administrative structures or administered at the level of National Commissioners and headquarters directorates.
"Today, as we extend our nationwide tour to the South-East, we continue to depart from that established pattern of remote governance," he stated.
Ensure every registered voter gets PVC in South East - Amupitan charges INEC officials