The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is planning to introduce an early voting system that would allow persons on essential duty to cast their ballots one week before the 2027 General Election, subject to legislative backing.
The INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Tuesday at a World Press Conference and National Stakeholders’ Meeting to mark 100 days to the 2027 General Election in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Amupitan explained that the proposed arrangement was part of measures to make the electoral process more inclusive and ensure that Nigerians whose duties could prevent them from voting on election day were not disenfranchised.
He noted that the proposal would require appropriate legislative provisions before it could be implemented.
The chairman also outlined the commission’s preparations for the 2027 elections, saying INEC had recorded significant progress across several areas of its electoral programme.
“Since assuming leadership of the Commission on 23rd October 2025, this administration has successfully conducted major off-cycle elections-including the Anambra, Ekiti, and Osun Governorship Elections, the FCT Area Council Polls, alongside critical federal and state bye-elections. From the Reports submitted by local and international observers, every single one of these polls passed the benchmark of electoral integrity, underscoring our unwavering adherence to operational efficiency and credibility.
Crucially, these off-cycle elections provided a vital testing ground for key structural upgrades,” he informed.
Logistics Infrastructure
He reaffirmed that the early deployment of ad-hoc staff and sensitive materials, an agile logistics infrastructure, and precision-driven, intelligence-led security arrangements are the non-negotiable foundation for seamless election delivery nationwide.
“On 26th February 2026, the Commission issued the Revised Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2027 General Election, establishing 14 critical statutory milestones. I am pleased to report that we have successfully executed nine of these major milestones,” Amupitan stated.
The Chairman said that the statutory timeline has been translated into an operational execution plan synchronised across the 23 Headquarters Departments and Directorates, 36 State Offices, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and all 774 Local Government Area (LGA) offices nationwide.
On Election Funding and Financial Readiness, Amupitan said that executing a national election of this magnitude requires robust financial backing and fiscal discipline, saying that the Federal Government has maintained its commitment to democratic governance through the timely release of statutory budgetary allocations to the Commission.
“Operating under a framework of transparent fiscal management, these funds have enabled us to meet international vendor obligations, finance the production of critical election technology, upgrade physical infrastructure, and sustain multi-stakeholder operational deployments nationwide. However, we expect the prompt release of the remaining budget to ensure seamless execution of the remaining activities,” he remarked.
On Voter Register, CVR and PVC Collection, the Chairman stated: “In line with Section 10 of the Electoral Act, Phase I of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) ran from 25th August to 10th December 2025 and registered 2,611,266 voters. Phase II ran from 5th January to 17th April 2026 and registered 4,121,835. Phase III ran from 11th May to 26th July 2026 and registered 3,867,997. The total registration was 10,772,421, following the conclusion of Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) verification. The National Register of Voters now stands at 103 million.
The top 10 states by number of registered voters are:
1. Lagos – 7,488,633
2. Kano – 6,570,276
3. Kaduna -4,662,640
4. Katsina – 3,876,051
5. Rivers – 3,736,434
6. Oyo – 3,588,111
7. Delta -3,525,988
8. Benue – 3,057,225
9. Ogun – 3,037,981
10. Bauchi – 3,012,547
At the other end of the table, Ekiti State has the lowest number of registered voters, with 1,055,708. It is followed by Bayelsa, which has 1,200,691 registered voters. The FCT ranks next from the bottom with 1,732,043, followed by Yobe with 1,733,671 and Gombe with 1,768,566.
Male voters account for 53,528,218, representing 51.75 per cent of the register, while female voters number 49,900,497, representing 48.25 per cent. The age profile shows that the register is dominated by voters aged 35 to 49 years, who account for 43,265,946 voters, or 41.83 per cent of the total,” he noted.
Amupitan said that they were followed by voters aged 18 to 34 years, numbering 29,777,578, representing 28.79 per cent. Voters aged 50 to 69 years account for 22,982,900, or 22.22 per cent, while those aged 70 years and above are the smallest age group, with 7,402,291 voters, representing 7.16 per cent, stating that the register records 232,658 Persons With Disabilities, spread across 10 disability categories.
“This represents roughly 0.23 per cent of the total 103.43 million registered voters.
The largest category is “Others”, with 101,183 voters, accounting for 43.49 per cent of all registered People With Disabilities (PWD). This is followed by albinism, with 44,023 voters (18.92 per cent), and physical impediment, with 27,141 (11.67 per cent), those registered under blindness number 19,939 (8.57 per cent), while deafness accounts for 14,326 (6.16 per cent), the register also contains 8,832 voters with autism (3.80 per cent), 7,723 with cognitive or learning disabilities (3.32 per cent), and 5,755 with little stature (2.47 per cent).”
The smallest categories, according to the INEC cHAIRMAN, are down syndrome, with 2,080 voters (0.89 per cent), and spinal cord injury, with 1,656 voters (0.71 per cent)
In compliance with Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, he said, the register of voters will be displayed for public scrutiny from 9th to 15th October 2026, not later than 90 days before the General Election.
“Claims and objections arising from the nationwide display at Registration Areas will be addressed thereafter. The distribution of Phase 1 PVCs to all Local Government Centres will commence on Friday, 9th October, 2026, It is important to note that in the third phase of the CVR, we introduced, for the first time in Nigeria, the Online Registration Portal technology for registrants to eliminate barriers of distance and time. Furthermore, we introduced Printable PVC technology in line with Section 18(1) of the Electoral Act 2026 to ensure that waiting months for a card becomes a relic of the past”. The chairman said.
Amupitan stated that the Register of Voters for the 2027 General Election is expected to be presented to political parties on 15th December 2026.
On Political Party Candidate Nominations, he said, “Under Section 29 of the Electoral Act 2026, political parties submitted candidate lists through the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal (ICNP), supported by Form EC9 affidavits of constitutional compliance.”
To protect the integrity of party nominations and prevent unlawful exclusion or arbitrary candidate substitution, he said that the Commission implemented an administrative safeguard, which was the pre-uploading of candidate names onto the INEC Candidates Nomination Portal, strictly verified against INEC’s primary election monitoring reports and internal party appeal outcomes.
“Presidential & Vice-Presidential Nomination Summary: 18 out of 22 registered political parties submitted 36 Presidential/Vice-Presidential candidates; three parties (Accord, APGA, and Youth Party) nominated no presidential candidates, while the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) withdrew its presidential nomination during the substitution window.”
On the National Assembly, he said, 21 of 22 political parties sponsored 1,313 candidates for the Senate and 3,547 candidates for the House of Representatives. Personal particulars were published on 1st August 2026, and the Final List of Candidates was published on 12th September 2026, subject to court orders.
On Governorship & State Houses of Assembly, he noted, 21 out of 22 political parties nominated 936 Governorship/Deputy Governorship candidates and 9,692 State House of Assembly candidates. Personal particulars were published on 29th August 2026, with the Final List set for publication on 10th October 2026.
“The complaints arising from the nomination process include unlawful withdrawal and substitution of candidates, typographical errors, and other legal issues relating to nominations. All 112 formal complaints received from aspirants, candidates, and parties regarding the nomination process were investigated and resolved except those pending in the Court,” the chairman said.
Amupitan said that they have recently received complaints from some political parties and aggrieved aspirants, drawing our attention to the recent Supreme Court decision in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party delivered on 24th September, 2026, affirming the constitutionality of section 77(5)-(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026 and also upholding our Revised Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2027 General Election. We only received the certified true copy of this judgment this morning, and it is being reviewed.
On restoring newly created constituencies, he said, pursuant to court judgments restoring previously suppressed constituencies, the commission restored 27 state constituencies between June and August 2026 in Benue, Delta, Jigawa and Kogi States. In addition, two new State Constituencies (Warri South West II and Warri North II) were created in the Warri Federal Constituency of Delta State to resolve the protracted problem arising from the inability to implement the Supreme Court decision in Hon. George U Timinimi & Ors V. INEC before the 2023 General Election, Political party primaries and candidate nominations for these constituencies have been completed.
Speaking on procurement readiness, he said the commission has moved from planning and tendering into active contract execution, production, delivery and construction.
Offshore production and fleet contracts have been awarded, and production is advanced for 57,000 new BVAS devices, additional voting cubicles and ballot boxes. Some of the newly acquired BVAS have been delivered and the delivery of new operational vehicles is ongoing nationwide.
On Civil works, he said construction of dedicated BVAS storage facilities and Local Government Area offices is progressing, alongside nationwide office renovations, emphasizing that the contract for solar power installation across all the Commission offices has been awarded.
ICT infrastructure, the Chairman noted that the upgrades to critical ICT applications and core infrastructure are being implemented.
On non-sensitive materials, he said some states have started receiving, while sensitive materials, procurement for the printing of ballot papers and result sheets is nearly completed and advancing towards final contract award.
He said that the Procurement Department continues to monitor supplier, contractor and inter-departmental delivery schedules closely, so that all procurement is aligned with statutory timelines.
On Logistics Strategy And Operational Deployment, he said, an election is fundamentally the largest peacetime logistics operation undertaken in our nation, delivering non-sensitive and sensitive materials to 176,846 polling units across 8,838 registration areas, spanning urban centers, remote riverine communities, difficult mountainous terrains, and desert fringes, requires a strong logistics framework, building on the operational lessons from recent off-cycle elections, the Commission has finalised an integrated, multi-modal deployment strategy:
“Transport Union Partnerships and Fleet Mobilisation: The Commission has renewed and strengthened its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with key transport unions, including the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), and the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), this framework guarantees the early pooling, vetting, and mobilisation of over 100,000 vehicles and 4,000 boats to move personnel and materials,” he said.
Specialised Terrain and Riverine Deployment, the Chairman said, for difficult-to-access terrains in the Niger Delta, Lake Chad Basin, and high-altitude areas in the North-East and North-West, they have secured dedicated speedboats, 4×4 off-road vehicles, and local pack transport; escort protocols and maritime safety equipment, including life jackets and waterproof material containers, are being procured.
On Early RAC Activation and Poll Opening Mandate, he stated, to guarantee that polling units open strictly at 7:30 am nationwide, all non-sensitive materials are being pre-batched to LGA hubs prior to each election. Sensitive materials will move from CBN vaults to LGAs 72 hours before polls, reaching all 8,838 Registration Area Centres (RACs) and Super RACs by 4:00 pm on the eve of the election.
On Reverse Logistics and Material Audit: Amupitan disclosed that a structured reverse logistics protocol has been established to govern the secure retrieval, auditing, and central archiving of BVAS devices, election result sheets (Forms EC8A), and unused ballot materials immediately following final collation.
Also on Electoral Technology, AI Governance, and mock accreditation, he said that Technology remains the bedrock of their commitment to transparent results.
“The ICT Directorate has scheduled the following milestones: Upgraded BVAS Infrastructure. The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices have undergone extensive software hardening, battery optimisation, and biometric calibration to prevent accreditation bypass and eliminate manual manipulation. We have acquired 57,000 new BVAS for optimal performance,” the INEC Chairman affirmed.
On eEC8A System and Result Transparency, he noted, building on successful deployments in recent off-cycle elections, their enhanced eEC8A system ensures that polling unit result sheets are verified, cryptographically authenticated, and uploaded directly from polling units to the public view portal, IReV.
For Downloadable PVC, he said the technology was introduced in pursuant of section 18(1) of the Electoral Act. It was tested during the Osun election and also used to enable voters whose PVCs were stolen before the election to exercise their voting right, and on National inventory and functionality testing, he said, a nationwide audit of BVAS inventory, with activation testing and GPS tracking verification, has just been concluded.
Speaking on BVAS configuration and security onboarding, he said, State-level device configuration, with enrolment onto the SureMDM platform, will soon commence and on Quality assurance he also said that a six-day stress-testing exercise across all configured BVAS devices has been scheduled for 23rd to 28th October 2026.
On Technical support capacity, he noted that State-level training of Registration Area Technical Support personnel (RATECHs) has been scheduled for November 2026, culminating in a strategic briefing on 13th December 2026. LGA readiness audits will follow on 13th and 14th January 2027.
“Election-day support: RAC refresher training across all 8,838 Registration Area Centres on the eve of the Presidential election, and on-site RATECH support on both election days, 16th January and 6th February 2027. Digital/on-line basic lessons will be deployed to supplement the training received by Ad Hoc staff.”
On Artificial Intelligence Governance: the Commission he said, has established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Division within the ICT Department. Automated AI auditing tools are being integrated into our results verification process under a five-pillar AI Governance Framework, operating under mandatory human oversight. An AI Governance framework/Policy is being finalised by the Commission. In partnership with international technology leaders, we are integrating AI-driven anomaly detection tools to monitor database traffic and shield our public portals against cyber intrusions or unauthorised alterations.
On Nationwide Mock Accreditation: “A comprehensive election simulation and mock accreditation exercise will be held nationwide in November 2026 to test personnel, hardware, and network protocols under operational conditions,” the INEC Chairman revealed.
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Electoral integrity requires physical security and ethical discipline. Using its Risk Management Tool (ERM) and the Election Violence Mitigation and Advocacy Tool (EVMAT), the Commission is monitoring political activities, tracking risk incidents, and undertaking field risk assessments to further fine-tune its security strategy for the 2027 General Election, and that the number of security personnel to be deployed for the 2027 General Elections will be announced by the Police, which is the lead agency on election security.
On Electoral Security Training, the Chairman said, working through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), we are going to initiate joint security training for thousands of Electoral Security Personnel (ESPs) across national, state, and LGA commands. Precision-driven and intelligence-led security deployment will be done to guarantee the safety of voters, electoral materials, election personnel and all stakeholders in the electoral process.
Enforcement Against Vote-Buying: In collaboration with the Federal Minister of Justice, the EFCC, ICPC, and NFIU, joint financial monitoring and undercover surveillance teams will be deployed to track illicit campaign spending and poll-site financial inducements. Violators will face immediate arrest and prosecution under the Electoral Act 2026.
On election and party monitoring, he emphasised that the Commission has completed the formal registration of three new political parties between 10th December 2025 and 16th February 2026.
It carried out the annual verification of registered political parties to assess constitutional compliance from 13th to 30th April 2026, and it monitored party primaries nationwide from 23rd April to 30th May 2026.
“Between 28th October 2026 and 1st January 2027, the Election and Party Monitoring Department will sensitise parties on the Political Party Financial Reporting and Audit System (PFRAS) and track campaign finances at national, state and LGA levels to enforce constitutional spending limits,ln November, the Commission will accredit election observers and publish the approved list on the INEC website and in national newspapers, We will also train party representatives and manage portal uploads of agent particulars for all 2027 polished,” he said.
On zonal readiness assessment, he noted that through its Planning and Monitoring Department, the Commission has embarked on a Zonal Readiness Assessment programme across all six geopolitical zones. Tours of the South-West and North-West are complete. These hands-on assessments allow us to gauge each state’s readiness, identify local vulnerabilities and close gaps early; the remaining four zones will follow in structured succession, and the Department will keep tracking the Election Project Plan and the Schedule of Key Operational Activities.
“The Election Monitoring and Support Centre (EMSC) dashboard will monitor the implementation of the 2027 General Election activities across all 36 states and the FCT, and 774 Local Government Areas, to ensure compliance with the Commission’s processes, the Situation Room Data Support Centre (SRDSC) will be activated six days before day; it will run on election day and seven days after the election to provide real-time monitoring and coordination of critical election activities,” he explained.
For Inclusivity, Stakeholder Engagement, and Health Protocols, he said, there is provision for Gender and Disability Access through the Gender and Inclusivity Department.
He said the department is advancing targeted interventions to expand electoral access for women, youths and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). The Commission is also procuring Braille Ballot Guides across all 36 States and the FCT, Braille-transcribed voter education materials, EC30 PWD posters for deaf voters, and magnifying glasses for visually-impaired citizens and persons with albinism. Certified Sign Language Interpreters will be stationed at all State Collation Centres.
While giving updates on Grassroots Outreach, Building on completed milestones, including state-level voter education alignment and political party dialogues on female representation, the INEC Chairman said the Commission is rolling out pre-implementation activities in all geopolitical zones.
“These include youth peace advocacy, state-level disability workshops, town hall meetings for rural women in all 774 LGAs, and native-language voter mobilisation across the 109 Senatorial Districts, in partnership with civil society, community and faith-based organisations, on Electoral Health Procurement, to preserve staff health and device integrity, he said, first aid kits will be supplied to all 8,838 Registration Areas Centres, hand sanitisers to all Polling Units, and cleaning agents (methylated spirit and cotton wool) to all 176,846 Polling Units for BVAS sensor maintenance.
“As we begin this 100-day sprint to the 2027 General Election, we reassure the nation and the international community of our total commitment to neutrality, operational excellence, and the sacred integrity of the ballot box,” the Chairman remarked.
He however, appealed to Nigerian to work together with the commission to make the 2027 General Election a moment of pride for the country.
