Ahead of the governorship election in Ekiti State, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced the commencement of Permanent Voter Card, PVC, collection for registered voters in the state.

In a statement, the commission said PVC collection began on Monday, June 1, 2026, at designated registration areas and wards across the 16 local government areas.

The ward-level collection will run from June 1 to June 14, 2026. Thereafter, collection will continue at INEC Local Government Area offices from June 15 to June 21, 2026, daily between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., including weekends.

The commission urged all registered voters who are yet to collect their PVCs to do so within the stipulated period.

“PVC collection is critical to voter participation. Only voters with valid PVCs will be accredited and allowed to vote on election day,” the statement said.

INEC reiterated that the PVC remains the only document acceptable for voter accreditation and voting at polling units.

The commission advised voters to check the collection centres assigned to them and to come with their temporary voter cards or any valid means of identification for verification.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Ekiti State, Bunmi Omoseyindemi, assured residents that the commission has put measures in place to ensure a seamless and transparent collection process.

He urged traditional rulers, community leaders, civil society organisations, and the media to sensitise citizens, especially women, youths, and persons with disabilities, to collect their PVCs.

An aggrieved political association, All Democratic Alliance, ADA, and its Protem Director of Mobilization, Ahidjo Ibrahim Karlahi have dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, before the Federal High Court in Abuja praying for an order of the Court to compel the electoral body to withdraw the registration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, as a political party in Nigeria

The grouse of ADA and Karlahi are predicated on allegations that the Senator Seriake Dickson led NDC was illegally and fraudulently registered by INEC as a political party for the purpose of participating in election matters in the country. 

In a suit with number FHC/ ABJ/CS/1115/2026, the two plaintiffs alleged that INEC gravely breached, disobeyed, ignored, omitted and deliberately failed to ensure compliance with relevant laws in the ways and manners NDC was secretly registered. 

Among others, Karlahi and ADA alleged that the electoral umpire failed to comply with sections 1, 6, 13, 14, 222, 251 of the 1999 Constitution and sections 75 and 79 of the Electoral Act in the registration of the NDC. 

In the suit instituted on their behalf by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria SAN, Bankole Joel Akomolafe via an originating summons, the two plaintiffs claimed that NDC never met any of the Constitutional requirements for it to qualify for registration as a political party. 

Besides, they asserted that INEC has no unfettered and unrestricted discretion to register the NDC as a political party. 

They therefore prayed the Federal High Court to issue an order against INEC to void, set aside, cancelled and revoke the purported certificate of registration in possession of NDC. 

The two plaintiffs also sought order of perpetual injunction restraining INEC from further recognizing, accepting, maintaining in its records or present any person on the authority of NDC as a political party for any election. 

Another order of perpetual injunction was sought against NDC restraining it from parading, introducing, presenting or call itself a registered political party either by publication, broadcast or any other means. 

The suit instituted on June 2, 2026 was supported by a 25 paragraph affidavit deposed to by the first plaintiff, Hon Ahidjo Ibrahim Karlahi. 

While Ahidjo Ibrahim Karlahi and All Democratic Alliance are the two plaintiffs, INEC and Nigeria Democratic Congress are listed as the two defendants. 

Meanwhile, no date has yet been fixed for hearing of the new suit. 

Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and former Vice President, has demanded that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) immediately answer pressing concerns over the unauthorised disclosure of information from its Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, database.

Atiku made this demand known in a statement by his spokesperson, Phrank Shaibu, on Tuesday.

Recall that concerns were raised over unauthorised access to INEC’s CVR system and the disclosure of information relating to a political party’s candidate in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Responding to the concerns on Tuesday, in a statement by INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, the commission said it had commenced an investigation.

INEC, however, ruled out concerns of a data breach.

Reacting, Atiku said INEC’s statement had only reinforced the urgent need for a full, transparent, and independent investigation into the matter.

He noted that while INEC had attempted to reassure Nigerians that there was no external hacking incident or breach of its ICT infrastructure, the commission had nevertheless admitted that sensitive voter information was accessed through valid official credentials and subsequently released without authorisation.

“INEC’s statement has moved this issue beyond conjecture. The Commission has now confirmed that voter information was accessed through credentials assigned to personnel participating in the ongoing CVR exercise and that such information was released without authority. That admission alone should concern every Nigerian.

“What Nigerians want to know is simple: how did information that resides within a restricted electoral database find its way into the hands of political actors and their associates? The fact that there was no external hack does not diminish the gravity of the incident. If anything, it raises even more troubling questions about internal controls, institutional safeguards, and the possibility of political interference,” he stated.