The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced plans to deploy about 1.4 million ad-hoc personnel to more than 176,000 polling units across the country for the 2027 General Election.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja when he received a Pre-Election Assessment Mission, PEAM, delegation of the International Republican Institute, IRI, led by its President, Amb. Dr. Dan Twining.
Amupitan said the Commission was strengthening its operational preparations through continuous voter registration and an audit of the voters’ register, with the Automated Biometric Identification System, ABIS, being deployed to identify and eliminate duplicate records.
He added that INEC was expanding its logistics arrangements, including collaboration with transport unions, to ensure polling units opened promptly at 8:30 a.m. on Election Day.
According to him, the Commission is also working to improve access to polling units and provide assistive devices for Persons with Disabilities, PWDs, pregnant women, nursing mothers and elderly voters.
The Chairman said the IRI delegation’s visit came at a critical stage of the electoral timetable, barely three days after the Osun State off-cycle governorship election and on the eve of the official commencement of campaigns and rallies for the 2027 elections.
He noted that recent off-cycle elections, including those in Ekiti and Osun States, as well as legislative by-elections, had provided valuable opportunities to test INEC’s technology, logistics and security coordination.
Amupitan said the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, and the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV, had achieved upload rates of more than 98 per cent in recent elections.
He, however, identified insecurity, localised electoral violence, vote-buying, hate speech, disinformation and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) as major threats to voter confidence.
He said INEC was working with the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, ICCES, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, to enforce electoral laws and ensure that offenders faced prosecution.
The INEC Chairman also disclosed that the Commission would participate in the National Peace Committee’s signing of the First National Peace Accord on Issue-Based Campaigns for the 2027 elections.
Amupitan described international election observation missions as institutional partners rather than critics, assuring the IRI delegation of INEC’s openness and cooperation ahead of its International Election Observation Mission, IEOM, for the 2027 elections.
He reiterated that the Commission had no preference for any political party or candidate, stressing that its responsibility was to conduct a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive election that reflects the will of Nigerians.
Earlier, Twining commended INEC for the conduct of the 2026 Osun State governorship election and praised Nigerians for their continued commitment to democracy.
“We know from our history of working here how committed Nigerians are to exercising their democratic rights. We saw and witnessed it. Very vigorous people here are really determined to make every vote count,” he said.
Twining said the international community was interested in supporting Nigeria’s preparations for the 2027 elections.
“We are here to hear from you how you’re planning before the elections, your outlook, your forecast, some of your concerns and anything that we, as the international community, can do to support a peaceful, credible and democratic election,” he added.
