2027 POLLS: INEC extends date for parties to submit gov, Assembly lists

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the deadline for political parties to submit their lists of candidates for the upcoming governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections in February 2027. The extension was announced in a statement by Mohammed Kudu Haruna, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee.

Initially, the submission window was set to close on August 8, 2026, but it has now been pushed back to August 11, 2026. This extension was granted following appeals from political parties seeking more time to complete the submission process via the online portal.

Furthermore, INEC announced the expiration of the deadline for voters who have applied for the replacement of lost, damaged, or defaced Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs). The window for downloading the corrected copies of these cards will close at midnight on August 9, 2026. The commission explained that this deadline is crucial for compiling data on the downloaded PVCs and establishing the final statistics of the cards collected before the August 15 Osun State governorship election.

The PVC collection in Osun State began from July 22 to 28, 2026, but was extended to July 31 due to complaints about large crowds and difficulties faced by voters at some collection centers. Following this, the collection process was shifted to the Local Government Area (LGA) level, running from August 1 to 7, 2026. INEC also revealed that replacement downloadable PVCs were made available to voters in the Odo-Otin and Ife Central Local Government Areas whose cards were allegedly taken by hoodlums who stormed the two collection centers. However, it was reiterated that the stolen PVCs could not be used for voting purposes.