INEC’S PVCS: WHY ARE WE STILL PRINTING ABROAD IN THE BVAS ERA?
By Austin Aigbe
Governance and Democracy Advocate and Member, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room
Why is the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) still producing Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) abroad when the technology that now safeguards elections is no longer the card itself, but the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS)?
It is a simple question. Yet, in a period of tight public finances, rising public debt and growing calls for local content in government procurement, it is also an urgent one.
Not long ago, I walked into a First Bank branch in Garki Area 10, Abuja, and collected an ATM card directly from a machine without any human interaction. This was not at the bank’s headquarters or a specialised card production centre. The machine produced and activated the card within minutes. If a Nigerian bank can securely issue a debit card instantly from a small branch location, why should Nigeria’s electoral management body still depend on foreign facilities to produce voter cards?
THE BVAS, NOT THE PVC, IS NOW THE REAL SECURITY LAYER
In previous electoral cycles, the PVC was regarded as the principal security instrument for voter identification and accreditation. Its embedded features, specialised materials and security markings were considered essential safeguards against electoral fraud. Consequently, production was outsourced to foreign firms believed to possess the necessary expertise and technology.
THE BVAS HAS CHANGED THAT!
Having observed elections since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, I can confidently say that the country’s election management has improved significantly. In recent elections, including the Edo Governorship Election of 2024, the Anambra Governorship Election of 2025, and the FCT Area Council and Osun Governorship Elections of 2026, one fact stood out consistently: the critical tool in voter identification and accreditation is no longer the plastic PVC. It is the BVAS.
The PVC, as required by law, remains the first layer of voter identification. However, what ultimately identifies and determines whether a voter is accredited is the BVAS verification process.
In a number of polling units visited during recent off-cycle elections, the accreditation process began with election officials entering the last four digits of the Voter Identification Number (VIN) on the PVC into the BVAS device. Once the voter’s details appeared on the system, accreditation was completed through fingerprint or facial recognition. The decisive step was not the card itself, but the biometric verification conducted by the BVAS.
At this point, the PVC itself is no longer useful. The question becomes whether the individual presenting the card matches the biometric information stored in the system. The real security today resides in the biometric database and the BVAS ecosystem, not in the plastic card. If that is the reality, why should Nigeria continue exporting scarce public resources to produce cards whose security role has been substantially reduced by modern accreditation technology?
Some other stakeholders may argue that the PVC production still requires specialised security features and quality-control standards. That argument deserves consideration. The burden will be on INEC to explain why those requirements cannot be met domestically, especially when the decisive safeguard against voter impersonation is no longer embedded in the card itself but in the biometric verification process.
WHY FOREIGN PVC PRODUCTION NO LONGER MAKES ECONOMIC SENSE
This is not merely a procurement issue. It is a question of national priorities.
At a time when governments routinely appeal to citizens to make sacrifices because of economic realities, public institutions should be equally committed to retaining value, jobs and technical expertise within Nigeria wherever possible. Producing PVCs locally would keep more money within the national economy, support local industries, create employment opportunities, deepen technical expertise and encourage investment in secure card-production infrastructure. Every serious economy grows by retaining value at home rather than exporting it by habit. Beyond the direct economic benefits, local production would strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s technological capabilities and manufacturing potential.
WE HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE
INEC itself has already demonstrated that such a transition is possible. Once upon a time, ballot papers, like PVCs, were produced outside Nigeria. The justifications were familiar: security concerns, specialised printing requirements and quality assurance considerations.
Over time, Nigeria developed the confidence and capacity to print ballot papers domestically. Today, most, if not all, election ballot papers are printed within the country. That decision has been widely praised for reducing logistical complications, strengthening local industry and improving operational efficiency. This raises an obvious question: which is more important to election integrity, the ballot paper or the PVC? If Nigeria can securely print ballot papers at home, why can it not securely produce voter cards at home?
BEYOND LOCAL PRODUCTION: IS THE PVC BECOMING OBSOLETE?
There is an even broader question that policymakers should begin to consider. As digital identity systems mature and biometric databases become more robust, Nigeria may eventually reach a point where voters can be accredited without a physical PVC. The Electoral Act 2026, Section 47(1) however, still requires voters to present a PVC for accreditation, recent reforms have opened discussions about downloadable voter cards. Policymakers should begin asking whether the law is keeping pace with technological realities. If biometric verification has become the decisive safeguard against impersonation, future reforms may explore more cost-effective methods of voter identification that reduce the burden of mass card production by INEC.
Think about this, if a voter is identified and accredited through the BVAS, the physical plastic PVC increasingly become less like the core instrument of voter identification and authentication and more like a legacy requirement inherited from the pre-tech era.
In the longer term, there may be merit in exploring options that allow voters to download and print their PVC themselves, thereby reducing the enormous financial burden associated with mass card production, requiring collection by prospective voters. That debate should begin immediately after the 2027 general elections, alongside the Voter Register Revalidation conversation.
TIME FOR A NEW CONVERSATION
The BVAS has fundamentally changed Nigeria’s electoral landscape. The PVC is no longer the technological backbone of voter identification and accreditation. The true guarantor of electoral integrity now lies in biometric verification and the integrity of the voter register. In an age of economic prudence and growing local capacity, INEC must avoid the production of PVCs abroad.
The question is no longer whether Nigeria can produce its own voter cards.
The real question is what justification remains for producing them anywhere else.
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