The Independent National Electoral Commission has unveiled plans for a real-time election readiness tracker to monitor preparations for the 2027 General Election across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Monday in Lagos as the Commission commenced its six-zone national readiness tour ahead of the 2027 elections.
The initiative, according to Amupitan, is designed to give the Commission’s leadership instant visibility into critical preparations, including the distribution of election materials, recruitment and training of ad-hoc personnel and the overall operational readiness of states.
The announcement came as the national register of voters approaches the 100 million mark, with the Commission reporting that 10,772,421 new voters were registered during the three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration conducted between August 2025 and July 2026.
Amupitan spoke while declaring open the South-West Zonal Interactive Meeting and Readiness Assessment for the 2027 General Election at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.
He said the meeting marked a departure from the Commission’s practice over the past two decades, during which zonal preparations were largely handled through headquarters directorates.
According to him, the presence of National Commissioners and directors at the zonal engagement was intended to bring the Commission’s leadership closer to the officers responsible for implementing the electoral process at the grassroots.
He said the effectiveness of the 2027 election would ultimately be determined not in Abuja meeting rooms but at Local Government Areas, Registration Area Centres and polling units across the country.
«“The eyes of 200 million Nigerians, and the world are fixed on us,” Amupitan told staff, urging them to maintain professionalism, neutrality and administrative discipline.»
The INEC chairman said the proposed Administrative Secretary Master Operational Tracker Template would be linked to the Commission’s Election Monitoring and Support Centre dashboard and Election Project Plan.
He said the innovation would address the absence of a uniform mechanism for tracking the operational responsibilities of Administrative Secretaries.
With the system, Resident Electoral Commissioners, supervising National Commissioners, the Secretary to the Commission and headquarters would have real-time access to information on state-level preparedness.
Amupitan said the system would help the Commission move away from crisis-driven management to early identification and resolution of operational problems.
He also said the tracker would remain useful after the 2027 election as a permanent operational and onboarding tool for future Administrative Secretaries.
The chairman said voter registration remained one of the key operational priorities under review as the national register approaches the 100 million mark.
He disclosed that 10,772,421 new registrants were captured during the three CVR phases, subject to verification through the Automated Biometric Identification System.
Amupitan said the third phase of the exercise introduced an online registration portal to make registration easier for eligible Nigerians.
He also highlighted the new printable Permanent Voter Card technology deployed during the Osun State governorship election, saying the innovation was consistent with Section 18(1) of the Electoral Act.
He assured Nigerians that INEC would continue working to ensure that no eligible voter was disenfranchised because of logistical challenges in PVC distribution and collection.
The INEC chairman identified voter apathy, public distrust and the increasing spread of misinformation and disinformation as major challenges ahead of the 2027 elections.
He said field officers must recognise that their conduct and competence could either strengthen or undermine public confidence in the electoral process.
On election technology, Amupitan said INEC was refining its result management systems, including the recently introduced eEC8A, to strengthen the verifiability of results from polling units through to the national collation centre.
He also warned staff against partisan activities and administrative negligence.
He cited Section 26 of the Electoral Act, which requires Electoral Officers, Presiding Officers, Returning Officers and relevant security personnel to take an oath of neutrality.
The chairman said the Commission was drawing lessons from recent off-cycle elections, particularly the Osun State governorship election, which he said demonstrated what could be achieved when logistics, technology, operational discipline and administrative integrity worked together.
However, he noted that the 2027 General Election would present a considerably greater challenge because it would be conducted simultaneously across 36 states and the FCT.
The presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections will hold on February 6, 2027.
Resident Electoral Commissioner for Lagos State, Prof. Ayobami Salami, described the South-West engagement as timely, saying credible elections were built through early preparation rather than last-minute efforts.
He said the zone’s diverse electoral environment required INEC to test the resilience of its logistics, technology, personnel and stakeholder engagement structures ahead of polling day.
Meanwhile, Director of Planning and Monitoring, Mrs Helen Ajayi, said the zonal meeting would assess state-level preparedness in logistics, recruitment of ad-hoc personnel, technology, security, training, voter education and stakeholder engagement.
The Administrative Secretaries’ workshop also requires state delegations to develop logistics risk registers, ad-hoc recruitment and deployment plans and three-month stakeholder engagement plans.
Secretary to the Commission, Mrs Rose Oriaran-Anthony, said the exercise would ensure that INEC headquarters and state offices operated from a common Election Project Plan while keeping personnel abreast of new policies, technologies and administrative procedures.
The workshop was supported by the European Union through the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria and implemented with Development Alternatives Incorporated.
The Lagos engagement is the first leg of INEC’s six-zone national readiness tour as the Commission moves to strengthen its operational structures ahead of the 2027 General Election.
