The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has approved an extension of the deadline for political parties to submit the list of candidates for the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections in the February 2027 general election.
The submission window, which was originally scheduled to close on Saturday, 8 August 2026, has been extended to Tuesday, 11 August 2026. INEC said the extension followed growing appeals by political parties for additional time to complete the process.
In a related development, the commission notified voters who applied for replacement of lost, damaged or defaced Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) that the window to print downloadable copies of their cards would expire by midnight on Sunday, 9 August 2026. This is to allow INEC to compile data on downloaded PVCs for final statistics of total PVCs collected ahead of the 15 August Osun governorship election.
PVC collection in Osun State commenced at Registration Area (RA) level from 22 to 28 July 2026. Owing to complaints of large crowds and difficulties encountered by voters at collection centres, the commission approved an extension of RA-level collection to 31 July 2026, before collection moved to local government area (LGA) level, running from 1 to 7 August 2026.
INEC also stated that replacement downloadable PVCs had been made available to voters in Odo-Otin and Ife Central local government areas whose cards were carted away by hoodlums who invaded the two centres. The commission reiterated that the stolen cards could not be used to vote.
INEC reassured the people of Osun State of its readiness to conduct a free, fair, credible and inclusive governorship election on 15 August 2026.