The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has revealed plans to introduce ‘downloadable Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs)’ for voters who have misplaced or defaced their original cards.
INEC chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, disclosed this when he received the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, who paid a courtesy visit to the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.
Amupitan said the deployment of the new technology forms part of the commission’s broader efforts to modernise the electoral process in preparation for the 2027 general election.
According to him, the downloadable PVC option will not be automatic or open to full-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 or defaced, or if you cannot read your numbers there,’ he stated.
He also said that affected voters must formally lodge a complaint at least, 90 days before an election to enable the commission to process the replacement.
Amupitan said that the commission would pilot the downloadable PVC technology during the off-cycle Osun State governorship election in August.
He also disclosed that INEC was finalising work on a technology that would allow eligible citizens to complete their voter registration entirely online without visiting INEC offices for physical biometric capture.
‘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.
Amupitan said that those advancements were aimed at eliminating the feeling of disenfranchisement among citizens and ensuring that everyone who desired to register could do so seamlessly.
INEC, NOA join forces to fight voter apathy, vote-buying
Amupitan made a commitment towards a joint campaign with NOA to tackle voter apathy, disinformation and vote-buying ahead of the 2027 general election.
He said INEC cannot deliver credible elections alone, no matter how advanced its equipment becomes.
‘We can purchase the finest BVAS machines, optimise IReV to international standards and map out logistics. But all of these mean nothing if citizens remain detached, cynical, or uneducated about the power of their votes,’ he told NOA management, INEC commissioners and directors present.
He described NOA as ‘Nigeria’s premier organisation for civic orientation’, noting that while INEC is the umpire, NOA is ‘the custodian of the values that make players and spectators respect the rules’.
Citing Section 3 of the NOA Act 1993, the INEC boss said the agency’s mandate to ‘energise Nigerians to their rights and responsibilities’ and ‘eschew electoral malpractice’ makes partnership with INEC ‘an absolute necessity, not a secondary option’.
Amupitan identified voter apathy and cynicism as a ‘silent and dangerous enemy’ in the country’s electoral system.
He said off-cycle polls show low turnout despite high national debate, while fake news is being used to convince citizens that ‘their vote will not count’.
To counter this, he called for a ‘decentralised and grassroots voter education campaign’ that explains not just when to vote but why votes matter and how BVAS and IReV have ended ballot box snatching and manual result manipulation.
‘We must look the rural farmer, the marketplace woman and the disillusioned urban youth in the eye and explain, in the language they understand, that because of our technology, the era of snatching ballot boxes is gone,’ he said.
Referencing the February 21 FCT Area Council elections and the June 20 Ekiti governorship poll, Amupitan said INEC recorded over 90 percent early opening of polling units, strong BVAS authentication, and swift uploads to IReV.
However, he noted both elections also exposed ‘a persistent undercurrent of voter apathy’ and confusion over polling unit splits and transfers, especially among urban newcomers.
‘That is a loud diagnostic signal that far more needs to be done in intensive, deep-rooted voter education. We cannot wait until the eve of 2027,’ he warned.
The INEC chairman praised Issa-Onilu’s leadership and said civic orientation in 2026 ‘must be digital, relational, and must resonate with our massive youth population.’
With the 2027 presidential election fixed for January 16 and governorship polls for February 6, he said INEC and NOA must ‘institutionalise collaboration now’. He proposed joint campaigns against vote-buying and misinformation and training NOA field officers as ‘trusted ambassadors of truth’ on INEC’s processes.
‘I pledge that our doors are wide open. We are ready to pool resources, share data, and give your teams all the institutional support required.’ Amupitan said.
Earlier, the Director General of NOA thanked the leadership of the commission for ensuring a drastic reduction in genuine complaints about the outcomes of elections based on the agency’s recent reports.
He also commended INEC for recognising the importance of voter education, noting that the emergence of a large youth population makes continuous democratic awareness more important than ever.
He said the knowledge gap among citizens regarding the electoral process remains a concern and requires stronger institutional cooperation.
The NOA boss sought a stronger collaboration between INEC’s voter education department and NOA’s Civic Values and Democracy Education structures to increase voter participation, tackle misinformation and promote confidence in Nigeria’s democratic process.
According to him, NOA will commence aggressive campaigns against vote buying, violence and voter apathy which characterised previous elections in the country.
Isa-Onilu stressed that through advocacy with the stakeholders in the nation’s politics, the issues of violence and poor participation in the nation’s electoral system will be addressed.