INEC: 116,745 newly registered voters yet to collect PVCs in Lagos

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos State says 116,745 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) of newly registered voters are yet to be collected. The Administrative Secretary of INEC in Lagos, Mrs Adenike Tadese, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday. Tadese said that the commission had received 177,295 PVCs belonging to eligible residents registered during Phase One of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in 2025.

She said the commission’s weekly update as of Monday showed that 60,550 PVCs had been collected by their owners, leaving 116,745 cards awaiting collection. According to her, the uncollected cards represent a significant number of eligible voters who should collect their PVCs to exercise their franchise in the 2027 general elections. She said the cards were available for collection at the various local government offices of the commission across the state.

“The cards are available for collection by their owners, not by proxy, at the various local government offices of the commission in Lagos,” she said. Tadese urged stakeholders to mobilise both old registrants who have not collected their cards and those who participated in the 2025 CVR exercise to collect their PVCs. She said the cards were still lying at INEC offices and appealed to their owners to collect them before the collection window closed ahead of the forthcoming elections.

The INEC official also disclosed that PVCs belonging to eligible residents who registered during the 2026 CVR exercise before its closure would soon be ready for collection. Tadese, however, urged eligible registered voters to maintain orderliness during the collection of their PVCs. She reaffirmed the commission’s readiness to conduct free, fair and credible elections that would be acceptable to all stakeholders in the state.

The administrative secretary also called for peaceful and orderly campaigns, urging all stakeholders to abide by the rules guiding the electoral process. She appealed to political actors and other stakeholders to play by the rules to ensure a peaceful electoral environment ahead of the 2027 general elections. (NAN)