The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has suspended the collection of Permanent Voter Cards in Osun State ahead of the August 15, 2026 governorship election.
The commission announced the development in a statement issued on Saturday by the National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna.
INEC said the decision was aimed at allowing it to compile data on downloaded PVCs and prepare final statistics on the total number of voters who had collected their cards ahead of the election.
The commission also informed voters who applied for replacement of lost, damaged or defaced PVCs that the window to print downloadable copies of their cards would close by midnight on Sunday, August 9, 2026.
According to INEC, the deadline would enable it to compile the data of downloaded PVCs for the final statistics of total PVCs collected in the state.
The commission recalled that PVC collection in Osun commenced at the Registration Area level from July 22 to 28, 2026.
It said “the Registration Area collection was extended to July 31 following complaints about large crowds and difficulties encountered by voters at collection centres.
“The collection subsequently moved to the local government level and continued from August 1 to 7, 2026.”
The commission also disclosed that replacement of downloadable PVCs had been made available to voters in Odo-Otin and Ife Central Local Government Areas whose cards were allegedly carted away by hoodlums who invaded the two collection centres.
INEC reiterated that the stolen PVCs could not be used to vote, while urging affected voters to obtain the replacement downloadable copies within the stipulated period.
The commission reassured residents of Osun State of its readiness to conduct a “free, fair, credible and inclusive governorship election on August 15.”
In a related development, INEC approved an extension of the deadline for political parties to upload their lists of candidates for the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections scheduled for the February 2027 General Election.
Haruna said the submission deadline, which was originally scheduled to close on Saturday, August 8, had been extended to Tuesday, August 11, 2026, following appeals by political parties for additional time to complete the process.