INEC Insists PVC Mandatory for Voting Despite BVAS Advancements

The Independent National Electoral Commission has ruled out the possibility of Nigerians voting without their Permanent Voter Cards, insisting that the law makes PVCs compulsory despite the efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System.

The clarification came after conversations from post-2023 general election review meetings suggested that other forms of identification could be accepted on election day, given the growing reliability of BVAS in verifying voters.

INEC’s Chairman’s Chief Press Secretary, Rotimi Oyekanmi, explained in an interview on Saturday that the idea had been raised during consultations but could not be implemented under the current electoral framework.

“INEC is not mulling the idea of voting without the Permanent voter cards. The idea emanated as a recommendation from our post-2023 review meetings with stakeholders, where it was suggested that with the advent of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, which contains details of registered voters per polling unit, Nigerians should be able to vote with any ID including the PVC on Election Day,” Oyekanmi said.

He acknowledged that BVAS had made accreditation faster and more credible through fingerprint and facial recognition but stressed that its existence did not override what the law stipulates.

“The commission is not opposed to this idea but some aspects of the law, like Section 47 of the Electoral Act 2022 which makes it mandatory for a voter to present a voter card at the polling unit, would need an amendment,” he added.

As the law currently stands, no one can be allowed to cast a ballot without presenting a PVC and being verified through INEC’s devices. This requirement has become a pressing concern as millions of voter cards remain uncollected nationwide.

According to data released by the commission on August 24, at least 5,965,451 PVCs were still awaiting collection. Lagos leads with 845,225 unclaimed cards, followed by Oyo with 515,254 and Ogun with 410,281. Delta reports 232,183, while Rivers has 251,418 uncollected cards. In the north, Kano tops the chart with 327,177, while Kaduna records 170,735 and Taraba 197,049.

Other states also report significant backlogs: Osun (360,794), Ondo (295,856), Benue (170,586), Kwara (158,653), Akwa Ibom (158,795), and Adamawa (225,916). Even smaller states such as Ekiti and Anambra still have 29,595 and 31,690 uncollected PVCs, respectively. The Federal Capital Territory accounts for 93,868.

To close this gap, INEC reintroduced the Continuous Voter Registration exercise in August. The online phase began on the 18th, followed by physical registration on the 25th. The commission says the exercise is not only for enrolling new voters but also for helping citizens retrieve uncollected cards from previous cycles before the next general elections.