The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has commenced the final 100-day countdown to the 2027 General Election with plans to deploy 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, devices and subject all configured machines to nationwide stress testing.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Tuesday at a World Press Conference and National Stakeholders’ Meeting in Abuja, saying the commission had moved from planning into the execution phase of the elections.
Amupitan said production of the 57,000 new BVAS devices was at an advanced stage, with some units already delivered, while procurement of ballot papers and result sheets was nearing completion.
He said a six-day stress-testing exercise of all configured BVAS devices would be conducted from October 23 to 28, followed by a nationwide mock accreditation exercise in November.
“As we begin this 100-day sprint to the 2027 General Election, we reassure the nation and the international community of our total commitment to neutrality, operational excellence, and the sacred integrity of the ballot box,” he said.
The INEC chairman said the commission’s technology upgrades were part of broader preparations aimed at ensuring that the 2027 elections met global standards of transparency, credibility and integrity.
He disclosed that the commission had also established an Artificial Intelligence Division within its ICT Department to address emerging technological challenges, stressing that its operations would remain subject to mandatory human oversight.
Amupitan said INEC had registered 10,772,421 new voters through the three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise, bringing the National Register of Voters to 103 million.
He said the register would be displayed for public scrutiny from October 9 to 15, while distribution of Phase 1 Permanent Voter Cards to Local Government centres would begin on October 9.
On logistics, Amupitan said INEC had renewed agreements with major transport unions to mobilise more than 100,000 vehicles and 4,000 boats for the movement of election personnel and materials.
He said sensitive materials would be moved from Central Bank of Nigeria vaults to local government areas 72 hours before the polls and delivered to all 8,838 Registration Area Centres by 4pm on the eve of election day.
The commission, he added, would require 707,384 ad hoc personnel for each of the two election days, January 16 and February 6, 2027, amounting to 1,414,768 engagements across 176,846 polling units.
Amupitan also warned that generative AI, voice cloning and deepfake technology posed serious risks to the credibility of the election, urging the media to verify information with INEC before publication.
“In national elections, it is far more important to be right than to be first,” he said.
