The availability of emerging election voter technologies will make it possible, but the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that without vital steps taken to standardise its processes, Nigerian electorates awaiting the 2027 polls may find themselves perpetually stuck with a legislature-backed rule that insists they can only elect representatives using the Permanent Voter Cards issued to them although there is a path the country can take.

Before switching on the flood lights on things, first is to go back in time to Nigeria’s 2015 general elections that brought in the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari finally into the position of power as a democratic leader.

A year before that election, two new technologies were to be introduced – one, a new Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC), which is far more advanced than anything used in the world at the time, including places like the United States.

The PVCs, seen as a game changer, are supposed to contain voters’ biometric information in an embedded microchip and replace the Temporary Voter’s Card that was used in the previous 2011 general elections. Electronic card readers with fingerprint scanners also came alongside this in the pursuit of fairer polls, but that advancement has given room for marginalisation still.

Being an organisation that wants to be progressive, the Independent National Electoral Commission is hinting at an openness to new ideas, those which would enable a person without a Permanent Voter Card to cast a ballot two years from now.

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Reiterating the Commission’s Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, about the world of possibilities lying ahead is his Chief Press Secretary, Rotimi Oyekanmi, talking to The PUNCH on Wednesday, 23 April 2025.

It was an interview which followed Prof. Yakubu’s earlier comment last December while at a quarterly consultative meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

The gathering was able to discuss expanding voter access through technology, but now the emphasis is being made on a need for legal provisions which Nigeria’s bi-cameral legislature must first offer – if not, there would be no change.

According to Rotimi Oyekanmi two days ago, it is not our stand alone that is important but what the subsisting law says.

The press secretary to Prof. Yakubu declared that while the commission is favourable disposed to the recommendation by stakeholders (that PVCs alone should not be the only criterion for voting at an election), the law needs to be amended to reflect it.

Any change that permits the electorate to cast a ballot with their PVCs is also expected to drive down the cost of running the polls, as well as curbing corrupt practices.

Back to the quarterly consultative meeting that was held last December, Yakubu spoke about how he sees technology continually influence the way elections are organised in Nigeria.

In a hypothetical world that has seen both chambers of the parliament work things out, those who already have their PVCs, according to the chairman, can still use them to vote, likewise, the computer-generated slips issued to the voter or even downloaded from the Commission’s website will suffice for voter accreditation.

This will not only save cost. It will also eliminate the issues around the collection of PVCs and the diabolical practice of buying up the cards from voters in order to disenfranchise them.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.