The Independent National Electoral Commission is stepping up its technological and security preparations for the 2027 general elections, with plans to deploy 57,000 additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines and artificial intelligence tools to protect the electoral process.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Monday, October 5, in Abuja during a strategic workshop with media executives organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors in collaboration with the commission.
The workshop was themed, “Strengthening Democracy Through Partnership Among Editors, Civil Society and Electoral Institutions.”
Amupitan said the commission had chosen to strengthen existing electoral technologies rather than introduce untested systems shortly before the elections.
According to him, upgrades to the BVAS, electronic result management system and other platforms are aimed at ensuring that valid votes are properly recorded and counted.
He said INEC had also introduced an enhanced eEC8A form to digitise and cryptographically authenticate polling-unit results before they are uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing portal.
The commission, he added, was deploying artificial intelligence-driven systems to identify anomalies in database traffic and strengthen cybersecurity around the electoral process.
INEC targets vote-buying, illegal funding
Beyond technology, Amupitan said the commission was strengthening its monitoring of campaign finances and vote-buying ahead of the elections.
He said INEC was working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit to track campaign expenditure.
A joint financial monitoring mechanism, he said, would identify suspicious and illegal spending, while surveillance around polling units would be increased.
Amupitan warned politicians and their agents that violations of the Electoral Act would attract arrest and prosecution.
“Elections must be decided by the conviction of the voter, not the depth of a candidate’s pocket,” he said.
He also said INEC’s early-warning mechanism under the Inter-Consultative Committee on Election Security was monitoring political violence, thuggery and inflammatory rhetoric.
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According to him, no political ambition should justify the loss of Nigerian lives.
Disinformation threatens election credibility
The INEC chairman identified the spread of false information online as another major threat to the credibility of the 2027 elections.
He described malicious disinformation as “citizenship terrorism through social media” and urged journalists to verify information before publication.
Amupitan warned that fabricated reports could discourage voters, trigger panic and undermine confidence in the electoral process.
He recalled instances in which old photographs, manipulated images and fabricated reports had been circulated as current election-related events.
He cited a false report during the Federal Capital Territory elections claiming that NYSC members had been killed, creating the impression that Abuja was experiencing widespread violence.
He said investigations subsequently established that the report was false.
The chairman urged newsrooms to take “a second, a minute” to verify information before publication.
He identified deepfakes, manipulated audio-visual materials, coordinated fake news and premature declarations of unofficial results as particular concerns for the 2027 polls.
INEC audits election readiness
Amupitan said INEC was also strengthening logistics and field operations as preparations for the elections continue.
He disclosed that readiness audits had been completed in the South-West and North-West geopolitical zones, with similar exercises planned for the remaining zones.
The audits covered INEC state offices, storage facilities, security protocols and logistics, while procurement and distribution of non-sensitive election materials had commenced.
He added that all electoral officers and temporary staff would be required to take an oath of neutrality under Section 26 of the Electoral Act 2026.
Amupitan warned that the commission would maintain zero tolerance for partisanship, negligence and compromised ethical conduct among its personnel.