Jane Salihu
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has stepped up preparations for the 2027 General Election, with separate engagements with the Canadian High Commission and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) focusing on electoral technology, inclusivity, institutional capacity and public trust.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed on Friday in Abuja that the Commission would conduct a nationwide mock accreditation exercise in November 2026 to test its readiness for the 2027 elections, particularly the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
Receiving the Chargé d’Affaires of the Canadian High Commission to Nigeria, Mr David Sproule, Prof. Amupitan said the exercise would subject the Commission’s electoral equipment and processes to a rigorous field test. He appealed for Canada’s partnership towards its success.
The Chairman described the August 15 Osun State governorship election as a “superlative benchmark” in electoral administration, noting that 3,556 of the 3,763 polling units, representing 94.5 per cent, opened for accreditation and voting by 8:30 a.m.
He attributed the performance to early logistics deployment, effective BVAS operations, seamless result uploads on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal and proactive crisis management.
“We view the success in Osun not as a final destination, but as the gold standard that will guide our preparations for 2027,” he said.
Prof. Amupitan said the Commission was also prioritising greater participation by women, youths, Persons with Disabilities and other underrepresented groups, while strengthening its capacity to tackle election-related misinformation and disinformation.
He further disclosed that INEC had established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence (AI) Unit to explore the responsible use of AI in areas including data managemuent, voter registration and results transmission, while guarding against emerging threats such as deepfakes.
He said INEC was also preparing to participate in the Global Conference on Responsible AI and Elections scheduled for September 9–11, 2026, in Ottawa, Canada, and appealed for the Canadian High Commission’s assistance with the expedited processing of visas for the Commission’s delegation.
Responding, Mr Sproule reaffirmed Canada’s support for Nigeria’s democratic process, saying his country was interested in INEC’s plans for the 2027 elections and remained ready to assist in areas considered appropriate, including election observation, voter awareness and promoting women’s participation.
He said Canada had recently participated in an international delegation that observed the Osun governorship election and would continue to support efforts towards free, fair and legitimate elections in Nigeria.
In a related development, Prof. Amupitan received the newly appointed Country Representative of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), Mr Moritz Sprenker, describing the Foundation as a longstanding partner of INEC.
The Chairman said future collaboration with KAS would focus on civic education, electoral technology, institutional capacity building, countering misinformation, inclusion of marginalised groups and promoting peaceful electoral processes.
Mr Sprenker said KAS had worked in Nigeria for more than 25 years and reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening its partnership with INEC, recalling a capacity-building workshop on procurement held with the Commission in Lagos in March 2026.
The two engagements highlight INEC’s strategy of combining international partnerships with lessons from recent elections as it prepares for the 2027 General Election, scheduled for January 16 and February 6, 2027.
The Commission is expected to deploy approximately 1.4 million ad-hoc personnel across more than 176,000 polling units nationwide.
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