By Gabriel Ameh
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced a six-zone national readiness tour as part of preparations for the 2027 General Election, beginning with the South-West geopolitical zone in Lagos.
The exercise was launched on Monday, September 7, 2026, by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, during a South-West Zonal Interactive Meeting and Readiness Assessment held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja.
The zonal engagement is designed to assess the Commission’s operational preparedness across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones ahead of the 2027 elections.
The Presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections are fixed for February 6, 2027.
Speaking at the Lagos meeting, Amupitan, who was accompanied by National Commissioners and Directors from INEC headquarters, said the zonal engagements represented a shift from the administrative approach of the past two decades, when election preparations were largely coordinated through headquarters directorates.
According to him, the Commission’s leadership must engage directly with Electoral Officers and administrative personnel because the effectiveness of the electoral process is ultimately determined at the local government areas, registration area centres and polling units.
He described field officers as the frontline guardians of Nigeria’s democracy, stressing that their conduct and competence would be critical to addressing voter apathy, public distrust and the spread of misinformation and disinformation ahead of the elections.
INEC Draws Lessons From Recent Elections
The INEC chairman said the Commission would build on lessons learnt from recent off-cycle elections, particularly the Osun State governorship election, which he said underscored the importance of operational discipline, technical competence and administrative integrity.
He warned, however, that the 2027 General Election would require a higher level of preparedness because of its scale, with elections expected to take place across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Amupitan disclosed that the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise conducted in three phases between August 2025 and July 2026 produced 10,772,421 new registrants.
He said the new registrations remained subject to ongoing verification through INEC’s Automated Biometric Identification System.
According to the chairman, the latest phase of the registration exercise introduced an online registration portal for eligible voters, while a new printable Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) technology was deployed during the Osun election.
He said the national voter register was approaching 100 million voters, assuring that INEC would take steps to ensure that eligible Nigerians were not disenfranchised because of logistical difficulties associated with PVC distribution.
INEC Reviews Electoral Technology
On electoral technology, Amupitan said the Commission was refining its result management systems, including the eEC8A, to strengthen the verifiability of election results from polling units through the various stages of collation to the national collation centre.
He also reiterated INEC’s zero-tolerance policy towards partisan conduct and administrative negligence among its personnel.
The chairman cited Section 26 of the Electoral Act, which provides for an oath of neutrality by relevant election officials and security personnel.
Amupitan also disclosed that the Commission was finalising a new salary and welfare package for its staff, Commission members and Resident Electoral Commissioners.
South-West Readiness Assessment
In her welcome address, the Lagos State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Ayobami Salami, said Lagos was honoured to host the maiden edition of the zonal engagement.
Salami said electoral credibility was built through early preparation, competent personnel and effective coordination rather than being determined solely on Election Day.
She noted that the South-West presented a diverse electoral environment requiring comprehensive readiness assessments covering logistics, technology and stakeholder engagement across the six states.
The Director of Planning and Monitoring, Mrs Helen Ajayi, said the engagement was intended to assess the preparedness of South-West states, identify operational and logistical challenges and provide updates on voter registration, PVC collection and ICT deployment.
She added that the exercise would also ensure that INEC personnel were properly aligned with the Commission’s Code of Conduct as well as its operational and logistics requirements ahead of the elections.
The Lagos meeting featured presentations and interactive sessions on voter registration, electoral technology, staff conduct, logistics, security, training, voter education and stakeholder engagement.
The South-West engagement marks the beginning of INEC’s six-zone national readiness tour, with the Commission’s leadership expected to engage directly with personnel and stakeholders across the country as preparations intensify for the 2027 General Election.
