THE Independent National Electoral Commission has extended the deadline for political parties to upload the names of their candidates for the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.
The deadline, which was initially set for Saturday, August 8, 2026, has now been moved to Tuesday, August 11.
INEC announced the extension in a statement on Sunday by the Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna.
The commission said the decision followed appeals from political parties for more time to complete the submission process.
“The submission window, which, according to the revised timetable and schedule of activities for the general election, was originally scheduled to close on Saturday, 8th August, 2026, has been extended to Tuesday, 11th August, 2026.”
“The extension follows growing appeals by political parties for additional time to complete the process,” the statement reads.
Meanwhile, INEC has suspended the collection of Permanent Voter Cards in Osun State ahead of the August 15 governorship election.
Haruna said voters who applied for replacement of lost, damaged or defaced PVCs have until midnight on Sunday, August 9, to print downloadable copies of their cards.
“This is to allow the commission to compile the data of downloaded PVCs for final statistics of total PVCs collected ahead of the August 15th Osun governorship election,” the statement added.
The commission also announced that replacement downloadable PVCs had been made available to voters in Odo-Otin and Ife Central Local Government Areas following the theft of cards during an invasion of two collection centres.
“The commission also wishes to state that replacement downloadable PVCs have 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 reiterates that the stolen cards cannot be used to vote,” INEC said.
INEC said PVC collection in Osun commenced at the Registration Area level on July 22 and was initially scheduled to end on July 28.
The exercise was later extended to July 31 following complaints about large crowds and difficulties at collection centres. Collection subsequently moved to the local government level and ran from August 1 to 7.
The commission reiterated its commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible and inclusive governorship election in Osun State.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.