Daud Olatunji
The Independent National Electoral Commission has commenced the nationwide display of its Preliminary Register of Voters alongside the collection of Permanent Voter Cards ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In Ogun State, the exercise will commence on Friday, October 9, and run until Thursday, October 15, 2026, with residents given the opportunity to scrutinise the register and raise objections or claims concerning their voter information.
The Ogun State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Feyijimi Saseyi, disclosed this in a statement on the exercise, saying the display would take place across all registration areas in the state’s 20 local government areas.
According to him, the exercise will run daily, including weekends, between 9am and 3pm throughout the seven-day period.
The development comes at a crucial period in the state’s political calendar, with political parties already positioning themselves for the 2027 elections and controversies emerging over membership registers and the eligibility of some prospective candidates.
Saseyi said eligible citizens would be able to inspect the preliminary register, collect their available PVCs and submit claims where their names or other details were missing or incorrectly captured.
He added that members of the public could also file objections against persons they considered ineligible to appear on the voters’ register.
The REC urged registered voters to take advantage of the exercise rather than wait until the election period before discovering errors or omissions in their records.
He said card collection would continue after the seven-day display period at the commission’s local government offices.
Trained revision officers, he added, would be deployed to the collection centres to assist voters and supervise the process.
Saseyi further advised residents intending to inspect the register or collect their PVCs to come with their registration slips or a valid means of identification.
The exercise is expected to provide voters with an opportunity to verify critical information, including their names and other registration details, before the 2027 polls.
The latest development is particularly significant in Ogun, where questions have recently been raised over the membership registers of political parties and the names of some candidates reportedly presented for the 2027 elections.
A recent examination of a document said to be a party membership register submitted to INEC reportedly showed that the names of some Peoples Democratic Party candidates were absent, while those of others appeared on the document.
Among those reportedly affected was the PDP governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu, while the names of the party’s three senatorial candidates—Iyabo Obasanjo, Ogun Central; Omotayo Oluwafemi Abdulwaheed, Ogun East; and Ogunola Babatunde, Ogun West—were also reportedly not found in the document examined.
Some House of Representatives and State House of Assembly candidates were similarly reported as absent.
However, the reported absence of a candidate’s name from a particular register does not, by itself, establish that the individual has been disqualified from contesting the 2027 election.
The legal significance of membership-register compliance is a matter that could depend on the authenticity of the document, the date and manner of its submission to INEC, the party’s compliance with the Electoral Act and the circumstances surrounding the party’s nomination process.
The issue has gained further attention following judicial pronouncements concerning statutory requirements imposed on political parties and the consequences of non-compliance.
