The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced plans to conduct a nationwide mock accreditation exercise in November ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Friday when he received a delegation from the Canadian High Commission, led by Canada’s Chargé d’Affaires to Nigeria, David Sproule, in Abuja.
Amupitan said the exercise would allow the commission to test the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and other electoral equipment ahead of the elections, while identifying and addressing possible challenges.
He listed improving electoral technology, expanding inclusion, strengthening institutional capacity, tackling misinformation and protecting electoral integrity among INEC’s key priorities.
The commission is also using recent off-cycle elections, including the Anambra, Ekiti and Osun governorship elections as well as the FCT Area Council polls, to assess and improve its electoral processes.
Amupitan described the August 15 Osun governorship election as a major benchmark, noting that 3,556 of the state’s 3,763 polling units, representing 94.5 per cent, opened for accreditation and voting by 8:30am.
He said BVAS performed well during the election, while results were also uploaded electronically through the IReV portal.
INEC is expected to deploy about 1.4 million ad-hoc personnel across more than 176,000 polling units for the 2027 elections.
The commission has also established an Artificial Intelligence unit to examine the responsible use of AI in voter registration, data management and results transmission, as well as develop measures against deepfakes and disinformation.
Amupitan said INEC would participate in the Global Conference on Responsible AI and Elections in Ottawa, Canada, from September 9 to 11.
The 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while the governorship and State House of Assembly elections will hold on February 6, 2027.
Campaigns for the presidential and National Assembly elections began on August 19, while campaigns for the governorship and State Assembly elections are scheduled to begin on September 9, 2026.
