The Independent National Electoral Commission has said the deployment of technology in Nigeria’s electoral process has significantly addressed longstanding vulnerabilities associated with voting and result management ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, stated this on Tuesday during a meeting with the International Republican Institute’s Pre-Election Assessment Mission delegation, led by former United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Jendayi Frazier, at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Amupitan said recent off-cycle elections had provided the commission with an opportunity to test its technological, logistical and security arrangements ahead of the 2027 polls.
He specifically cited the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the electronic transmission and display of polling unit result sheets through the INEC Result Viewing portal.
According to him, result-upload rates exceeded 98 per cent in recent off-cycle elections.
“Technology has permanently closed the door on legacy voting vulnerabilities, ensuring that the ballot box alone determines electoral outcomes,” the INEC chairman said.
Amupitan disclosed that the commission would deploy approximately 1.4 million ad hoc personnel across more than 176,000 polling units nationwide for the 2027 elections, underscoring the scale of the logistical operation involved.
He said INEC was already implementing an operational roadmap that included Continuous Voter Registration and a comprehensive audit of the voter register.
The commission, he added, would deploy its Automated Biometric Identification System to identify and eliminate duplicate voter records in an effort to maintain an accurate voters’ register.
Amupitan also said INEC was strengthening its logistics system through early deployment frameworks and partnerships with transport unions to ensure that polling units opened on time.
Despite the progress recorded with technology, the INEC chairman acknowledged that several threats remained, including security challenges, electoral violence, vote-buying, hate speech, disinformation and foreign information manipulation.
He said the commission was working with security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, as well as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, to address the challenges.
The chairman further said INEC would continue to welcome international election observation missions, describing them as institutional partners whose assessments and recommendations could contribute to strengthening Nigeria’s electoral process.
With public campaigns for the 2027 elections scheduled to commence on Wednesday, Amupitan assured the IRI delegation of the commission’s transparency and cooperation.
“Our sole mandate is to serve as an uncompromising, impartial umpire dedicated to delivering a free, fair, credible, transparent, and inclusive election that reflects the sovereign will of the Nigerian people,” he said.
