By Augustine Ehikioya
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, has ordered a comprehensive review of Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, records in the South East ahead of the 2027 General Election.
He also ordered immediate removal of all bottlenecks hindering collection of Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs.
Amupitan gave the directive in Enugu at the South-East Zonal Interactive Meeting with Staff and Readiness Assessment for the 2027 General Election.
He said the Commission’s primary operational focus in the zone is to review local CVR records and dismantle every obstacle to PVC distribution.
“Our objective is uncompromising: no eligible citizen who registered should be disenfranchised by administrative or logistical friction,” he declared.
The INEC Chairman disclosed that National Register of Voters now stands at over 103 million.
He said Commission introduced Online Registration Portal for first time in Nigeria during Phase III to eliminate barriers of distance and time, and has activated Printable PVC technology in line with Section 18(1) of Electoral Act 2026, so that “waiting for months to pick up a voter’s card becomes a relic of the past.”
Amupitan said Enugu engagement is third in nationwide readiness tour after South-West edition in Lagos on September 7, 2026 and North-West edition in Kaduna on September 28, 2026.
He noted significance of visit, saying no INEC Chairman had visited Enugu office since 1999.
“Today, as we bring our nationwide tour to the South-East, we continue to break that tradition of remote governance. The true success of any election is not decided solely in the meeting rooms of our headquarters in Abuja. It is decided in the field,” he said.
He said outcome is determined across 95 LGAs of South-East, in Registration Area Centres, RACs, and polling units by Electoral Officers and field staff.
Reminding officials of scale, Chairman said 2027 will be simultaneous national assignment across 36 states and FCT involving over 103 million registered voters and 176,846 polling units.
Presidential and National Assembly elections hold Saturday, January 16, 2027, while Governorship and State Houses of Assembly hold Saturday, February 6, 2027.
“The statutory timeline is fixed, and the clock is ticking,” he said, adding that of 14 major statutory milestones in Revised Timetable, nine have been executed. Commission recently marked 100 days to first ballot.
