The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has unveiled a series of measures aimed at strengthening the integrity of the 2027 general elections, including enhanced technology, tighter security, financial monitoring and closer collaboration with the media and civil society organisations.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash O. Amupitan, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at a Strategic Workshop for Editors organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in collaboration with the Commission.
The workshop, themed “Strengthening Democracy Through Partnership Among Editors, Civil Society and Electoral Institutions,” was held 101 days before the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 2027, and the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections fixed for February 6, 2027.
Amupitan said the timing of the workshop was deliberate, stressing that a credible election was not a one-day event but a process requiring continuous collaboration, transparency and public confidence.
According to him, INEC’s operational readiness alone cannot guarantee democratic stability without public trust, which he described as the “ultimate arbiter of electoral integrity.”
He said the Commission had successfully conducted several off-cycle elections under the current administration, including the Anambra governorship election, FCT council polls, and Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, as well as a number of bye-elections.
The INEC chairman disclosed that the Commission issued its revised timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 elections on February 26, 2026, comprising 14 major statutory activities.
He said eight of the activities had been completed, while the Commission was advancing towards the conclusion of the ninth milestone.
Amupitan announced that nationwide collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) would commence on Friday, October 9, 2026.
He said the Commission had completed the processing and distribution of Phase One PVCs to local government collection centres.
He urged editors and media executives to use their platforms to educate voters on collection procedures, locations and the need to collect their cards promptly.
The chairman said the three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise had produced more than 10.7 million new registrations, subject to final biometric verification.
He disclosed that the National Register of Voters had risen to more than 103 million following the completion of the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) cleanup.
He also highlighted the introduction of online voter registration and printable PVC technology, saying the innovations were designed to remove barriers associated with distance, time and delays in obtaining voter cards.
On technology, Amupitan said the Commission had acquired 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices as part of efforts to improve the reliability of voter accreditation.
He said the devices had undergone software hardening, battery optimisation and biometric calibration aimed at preventing accreditation bypass and reducing opportunities for manipulation.
The chairman also said INEC had enhanced its electronic result transmission architecture, with the eEC8A system designed to ensure that polling unit result sheets were digitised, cryptographically authenticated and uploaded directly to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
He added that the Commission was integrating artificial intelligence-driven anomaly detection tools into its systems to monitor database traffic and protect public portals from cyber intrusions and unauthorised alterations.
Amupitan declared that the Commission would adopt a firm position against vote-buying ahead of the 2027 elections.
He said INEC was strengthening collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Justice, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to monitor campaign financing and financial inducement