2027: INEC targets simultaneous voting nationwide
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is targeting the commencement of voting simultaneously across all polling units nationwide in 2027.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at an INEC-Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) Strategic Workshop for editors.
“I want to see a general election where voting starts in all the polling units in Nigeria at the same time.
“That is what we are targeting, where logistics is well-addressed, and where our technology works optimally,” he said.
Amupitan said INEC was drawing lessons from recent off-cycle elections and had commenced early procurement and distribution of non-sensitive materials, while acquiring new vehicles and conducting nationwide readiness assessments to identify vulnerabilities and potential bottlenecks.
He disclosed that 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices had been acquired and were undergoing software hardening, battery optimisation and biometric calibration.
The chairman also identified transparent management of election results as a key lesson from the 2023 elections, saying results must be managed “effectively, optimally, and transparently” and declared as soon as collation was completed.
He urged editors to serve as “the bridge in an era of information chaos”, saying factual reporting and verification would help protect democracy against information disorder.
“As the nation prepares for the 2027 General Elections, let us work together to build a public space powered by verified facts, civic responsibility, and unassailable institutional trust,” he said.
Speaking, the NGE President Eze Anaba called for a stronger partnership between the media and the INEC to rebuild public trust in the electoral process ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said the credibility of the media was inseparable from the credibility of the electoral process.
“Elections are not merely about casting ballots. They are about trust. They are about citizens believing that their votes will count, that the process will be transparent and that the institutions responsible for conducting elections will act fairly and professionally,” Anaba said.
He said the media had a critical responsibility in building and sustaining that trust but could not do so effectively without “credible, timely and accessible information” from INEC.
According to him, the relationship between the electoral body and the media should be based on “openness, mutual respect and regular engagement”, particularly in an environment increasingly affected by misinformation, disinformation, manipulated content, deepfakes and partisan narratives.
Anaba also urged stakeholders to work towards elections whose outcomes are determined by voters rather than prolonged legal battles.
“There’s a need for us to fight for our electoral process to be fair, transparent, and to avoid courts being the last port of call,” he said, expressing hope that “with this next round of elections, citizens’ votes will speak.”
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