The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) plans to conduct a nationwide mock accreditation exercise in November to test its readiness for the 2027 general elections, its Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, has said.
Amupitan disclosed this on Friday when he received the Chargé d’Affaires of the Canadian High Commission to Nigeria, David Sproule, and the Country Representative of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), Moritz Sprenker, at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
He described the August 15 Osun State governorship election as a ‘superlative benchmark’ in electoral administration, saying the commission would use the experience to guide its preparations for the 2027 elections.
According to him, 3,556 of the 3,763 polling units in Osun State, representing 94.5 per cent, opened for accreditation and voting by 8:30 am.
He attributed the outcome to the effective deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), seamless transmission of results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal and proactive crisis management by field officials.
‘We view the success in Osun not as a final destination, but as the gold standard that will guide our preparations for 2027,’ he said.
Amupitan said the planned November mock accreditation exercise would serve as a rigorous field test of the BVAS and other electoral processes ahead of the general election.
He said the exercise was intended to identify and address possible operational gaps before the 2027 elections.
The INEC chairman appreciated Canada’s continued partnership with the commission, while also highlighting the need for a voter revalidation exercise.
He said a significant number of voters, particularly elderly persons who registered as far back as 2011, would need to validate their records.
He, however, said the revalidation exercise could not be conducted ahead of the 2027 General Election because of time constraints, adding that it remained necessary to avoid delays in future electoral processes.
He admitted that both engagements came at a pivotal point in the Commission’s calendar, with the Presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for Saturday, 16 January 2027, and the Governorship and House of Assembly elections slated for 6 February 2027.
He said Wednesday, 19 August 2026, marked the official start of public campaigns and rallies for the 2027 General Election, while the Commission, days earlier, joined presidential candidates and party chairmen at the National Peace Committee’s signing of the first National Peace Accord on issue-based campaigning.
The INEC Chairman said the visit of the Canadian delegation reinforced the long-standing bilateral relationship between Nigeria and Canada, anchored on democratic values, the rule of law, and good governance.
He commended Canada’s sustained support for electoral governance, civic education, institutional strengthening, and gender inclusion in Nigeria.
He outlined five areas of shared strategic priority with the Canadian delegation: consolidating the technological gains recorded in Osun; deepening electoral inclusivity for persons with disabilities, women, youth, and underrepresented groups across the Commission’s 176,000 polling units; strengthening institutional capacity through technical assistance and training; countering election-related misinformation; and the planned mock accreditation exercise.
Prof. Amupitan also informed the Commission’s guests that the Commission had established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence (AI) Unit to strengthen data management, voter registration, and results transmission, while guarding against the misuse of such technologies.
In his remarks, Leader of the Canadian delegation, Mr Sproule, commended INEC’s commitment to a free and credible electoral process and reaffirmed Canada’s readiness to support the Commission in areas it deemed necessary, including election observation. He expressed particular interest in the active participation of women and other segments of society in the electoral process, and said Canada was confident in the Commission’s capacity to conduct credible elections.
Receiving the delegation from Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), led by the Country Director, Moritz Sprenker, the INEC Chairman described KAS as a longstanding partner of the Commission and commended the Foundation’s contributions to constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and good governance globally.
According to him, INEC and KAS had collaborated on regulatory frameworks for political parties, including technical retreats held in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and Lagos, which he said contributed to the Commission’s preparations for the Osun election.
He listed strategic priorities for continued collaboration with KAS, including civic education and democratic culture, electoral technology, institutional capacity building, countering misinformation, and deepening inclusivity for persons with disabilities and marginalised groups, and interagency dialogue for peaceful electoral processes.
Responding, Mr Sprenker said KAS is active in more than 100 countries and has worked in Nigeria for over 25 years across government, civil society, academia, and the media. He recalled a capacity-building workshop on procurement held with INEC in Lagos in March 2026 and expressed KAS’s continued interest in strengthening its partnership with the Commission.
Prof. Amupitan used both engagements to reassure the international community of INEC’s independence, neutrality, and commitment to democratic integrity, as the Commission scales its logistical capacity to deploy approximately 1.4 million ad-hoc personnel across more than 176,000 polling units nationwide for the 2027 General Election.