The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the deadline for political parties to upload the names of candidates for the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections by three days.
The deadline, which was originally set for Saturday, August 8, 2026, will now close on Tuesday, August 11.
INEC announced the extension in a statement issued on Sunday, August 9, by the Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna.
The commission said the decision followed requests from political parties for more time to complete the candidate 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 statement reads.
“The extension follows growing appeals by political parties for additional time to complete the process.”
In a separate development, INEC announced the suspension of Permanent Voter Card (PVC) collection in Osun State ahead of the August 15 governorship election.
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Haruna said voters who had applied to replace lost, damaged or defaced PVCs had 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 disclosed that replacement downloadable PVCs had been made available to voters in Odo-Otin and Ife Central Local Government Areas following the reported theft of cards from the 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.
PVC collection in Osun began at the Registration Area level on July 22 and was initially scheduled to end on July 28.
However, INEC extended the exercise to July 31 after voters reported large crowds and difficulties at several collection centres. The process was subsequently moved to the local government level, where collection continued from August 1 to 7.
With the deadline for downloadable replacement PVCs now expired, the commission said it was compiling the final collection figures ahead of the election.
INEC reiterated its commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible and inclusive governorship election in Osun State.