The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled November 28, 2026, for a nationwide mock accreditation exercise to test its voter accreditation and electronic result transmission systems ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, announced this on Thursday in London during a high-level dialogue organised at Chatham House in partnership with the Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI).
The event was held under the theme, “Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Democratic Trajectory and Regional Stability Beyond the Ballot.”
Amupitan said the exercise would simulate the presidential election and assess the effectiveness of the commission’s accreditation and electronic result transmission systems across all states of the federation.
“On the 28th of this month, we will conduct a mock accreditation across all states of the federation to simulate the presidential election and verify that we have gotten both accreditation and electronic result transmission right,” he said.
The INEC chairman, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), explained that the exercise was part of efforts to address technical challenges recorded during the 2023 general elections and strengthen the credibility and efficiency of the 2027 polls.
He disclosed that the commission had procured additional devices and reduced the maximum number of registered voters assigned to each Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine from 1,250 to 850.
According to him, polling units with more than 850 registered voters would be provided with additional devices to ensure smooth accreditation.
Amupitan also revealed that INEC was constructing climate-controlled storage facilities across the states to prevent BVAS malfunctions previously associated with extreme temperatures and improper storage conditions during the 2023 elections.
On electronic result transmission, he said the commission had introduced additional technical safeguards to prevent inaccurate results and figures indicating over-voting from being uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
He identified insecurity, logistics and result management as the three major areas of concern for the commission ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The INEC chairman further disclosed that a post-election audit of the 2023 polls showed that the most significant challenges in result management occurred at collation centres rather than polling units.
He said the commission had therefore decided to upgrade its existing electoral technology instead of introducing an entirely new system, citing the limited time available before the 2027 elections.
On funding, Amupitan confirmed that INEC had received a substantial portion of its budget for the 2027 general elections but was still awaiting the release of the outstanding balance.
He explained that part of the funds would be used to support the recruitment and welfare of ad hoc election personnel.
According to him, the commission had received assurances that the outstanding funds would be released before the end of November.
The 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled to hold on January 16, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections will take place on February 6.
