From David Onuoja, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has on Monday in Lagos launched a six-zone national readiness tour ahead of the 2027 General Election, with Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, describing the direct zonal engagement as a break from more than 20 years of centralized preparation through headquarters directorates.
Declaring open the South-West Zonal Interactive Meeting and Readiness Assessment at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, Amupitan said the tour will assess operational preparedness ahead of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections scheduled for Saturday, 16 January 2027, and the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections fixed for Saturday, 6 February 2027. He was accompanied by National Commissioners and Directors from Abuja.
According to the statement issued in Abuja, said, “the true measure of electoral success is not determined in meeting rooms in Abuja, but in the Local Government Areas, Registration Area Centres, and polling units where field officers handle the daily mechanics of the process,” the Chairman told Electoral Officers and administrative staff, whom he called the frontline guardians of Nigeria’s democracy.
Professor Amupitan added that, the Commission is building on gains from recent off-cycle polls, particularly the Osun State Governorship Election, which he noted demonstrated what is possible when operational discipline, technical competence, and administrative integrity converge.
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He however cautioned that 2027 will present a far bigger test, with a simultaneous exercise across 36 states and the FCT demanding a higher standard than any single-state election.
The INEC boss identified voter apathy, a lingering trust deficit, and the spread of misinformation and disinformation as major challenges. He stressed that the conduct and competence of field staff remain the Commission’s strongest defence against false narratives, and reiterated a zero-tolerance stance on partisan conduct and administrative negligence. He cited Section 26 of the Electoral Act, which mandates an oath of neutrality for Electoral Officers, Presiding Officers, Returning Officers, and security personnel.
On voter registration, Amupitan disclosed that the Continuous Voter Registration exercise, conducted in three phases between August 2025 and July 2026, recorded 10,772,421 new registrants pending Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) verification.
He said the third phase introduced Nigeria’s first Online Registration Portal and a new Printable Permanent Voter’s Card technology first deployed in Osun, in line with Section 18(1) of the Electoral Act. With the National Register of Voters approaching 100 million, he reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to ensuring no eligible Nigerian is disenfranchised by PVC distribution bottlenecks.
Technology is also being upgraded. The Chairman said the Commission is refining its Result Management Systems, including the newly introduced eEC8A, to strengthen result verifiability from the polling unit to the national collation centre.
He further announced that a new welfare package is being finalized, including the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure (CEMBSS) effective 1 January 2026, and a 150 percent increase in overhead allocations to states from 1 July 2026.
Lagos REC, Professor Ayobami Salami, in his welcome address, said the South-West presents a diverse electoral environment that requires assessments beyond routine checklists, focusing on logistics resilience, technology reliability, and stakeholder engagement.
Director of Planning and Monitoring, Mrs Helen Ajayi, said the meeting is structured around four objectives: reviewing situation reports on logistics, ad hoc staff, technology and security; identifying operational challenges; providing updates on CVR, PVC collection and ICT; and aligning staff with the Commission’s Code of Conduct.
With departmental engagements on voter registration, electoral technology, staff conduct, logistics, and state-level reports from RECs across the South-West, the Lagos meeting kicks off INEC’s national tour. The Commission said the exercise will continue across all six zones as it intensifies preparations for what is expected to be one of the most closely watched electoral cycles in Nigeria’s democratic history.
