INEC extends candidate submission deadline for 2027 polls to August 11 following party appeals
INEC has extended the deadline for political parties to submit candidate lists for the 2027 governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections to Tuesday, August 11, 2026. The original deadline of Saturday, August 8 was pushed back following appeals from political parties seeking more time to complete nominations, as announced by Mohammed Haruna, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information Voter Education Committee, in Abuja on Sunday.
The extension applies specifically to the upload of nominations onto INEC’s dedicated portal for next year’s general elections. Separately, Haruna noted that voters in Osun State who applied for replacement of lost, damaged or defaced permanent voter cards (PVCs) must complete downloads by midnight of August 9, 2026, to allow INEC to compile statistics ahead of the August 15 Osun governorship election. He clarified that collection of PVCs in Osun occurred at registration area level from July 22-28, extended to July 31 due to crowds, then moved to local government area level from August 1-7.
Haruna also confirmed that replacement downloadable PVCs are available for voters in Odo-Otin and Ife Central LGAs whose cards were stolen by hoodlums at collection centres, reiterating that stolen cards cannot be used to vote. He reassured Osun residents of INEC’s readiness for a free, fair, credible and inclusive election on August 15.
With the candidate deadline now set for August 11, parties have additional days to finalize their 2027 election lists, while Osun voters face an imminent August 9 cutoff for PVC replacements ahead of Saturday’s governorship poll.