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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced a nationwide clean-up of the voter register as part of preparations for the 2027 general election, while identifying security threats, vote-buying and disinformation as major challenges to credible polls.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), disclosed this on Tuesday while receiving a delegation of the International Republican Institute (IRI) Pre-Election Assessment Mission at the commission's headquarters in Abuja.
He said the commission was expanding its operational capacity to deploy about 1.4 million ad hoc personnel to more than 176,000 polling units across the country for the 2027 elections.
According to him, INEC is using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) under the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) programme to detect and remove duplicate registrations, thereby ensuring a credible National Register of Voters.
Amupitan said the assessment mission came at a critical period, just days after the Osun State governorship election and ahead of the commencement of campaigns for the 2027 general election.
He identified insecurity, electoral violence, vote-buying, hate speech, misinformation and foreign information manipulation as key threats capable of undermining public confidence in the electoral process.
The INEC chairman said recent off-cycle governorship elections and by-elections had served as testing grounds for the commission's logistics, security coordination and deployment of election technology.
He noted that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal had continued to record high performance, with result upload rates exceeding 98 per cent in recent elections.
According to him, the deployment of technology has significantly reduced opportunities for electoral manipulation and strengthened the integrity of the voting process.
Amupitan said the commission was also auditing the voter register, strengthening early deployment arrangements with transport unions and improving voting accessibility for persons with disabilities, pregnant women and elderly citizens.
He added that INEC was working closely with security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), as well as the EFCC and ICPC, to enforce campaign finance regulations, monitor electoral offences and prosecute offenders.
The INEC chairman also disclosed that the commission would participate in the signing of the National Peace Committee's Peace Accord to promote issue-based campaigns and peaceful elections.
He reaffirmed INEC's commitment to neutrality, transparency and professionalism, assuring both Nigerians and international partners that the commission remained focused on delivering free, fair, credible and inclusive elections in 2027.
