The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has explained why it cannot conduct a voter revalidation exercise before the 2027 general election.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, made the position known on Friday in Abuja.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Amupitan received the Country Representative of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, KAS, Moritz Sprenker, at the commission’s headquarters.
Amupitan said the commission needs more time to conduct the exercise, especially because many registered voters would need to have their records validated.
He said some of the affected voters registered as far back as 2011.
According to the INEC chairman, voter revalidation remains necessary but cannot take place before the 2027 elections because of time constraints.
He said the commission would carry out the exercise after the general election to avoid delays in future electoral processes.
The voter revalidation exercise is expected to focus on validating the records of voters, particularly older registrants whose details may require further confirmation.
Amupitan said INEC would continue its preparations for the 2027 general election despite the decision not to conduct voter revalidation before the polls.
The commission has fixed November 2026 for a nationwide mock accreditation exercise as part of its preparations for the election.
The exercise will test the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, and other electoral equipment before the general election. The commission said the nationwide test will help it assess the readiness of its equipment and officials before deployment for the 2027 elections. Amupitan said the exercise would subject BVAS to a rigorous field test designed to fortify the sanctity of the ballot.
He said the test would also cover other electoral equipment, allowing INEC to detect possible operational weaknesses before the general election.
INEC said the mock exercise would allow the commission to identify and address operational challenges ahead of the polls.
Amupitan said the commission had adopted five strategic priorities for the 2027 elections.
He listed the priorities as consolidating technological gains, deepening electoral inclusion, strengthening institutional capacity and technical support, countering misinformation and safeguarding electoral integrity.
The INEC chairman said the commission would use the outcome of recent off-cycle elections, including the Osun State governorship election, to guide preparations for 2027.
He described the Osun election as a benchmark for the commission’s preparations.
Amupitan said 3,556 out of 3,763 polling units in Osun opened for accreditation and voting by 8:30 a.m.
He said the election recorded optimal BVAS performance, result uploads through the INEC Result Viewing portal, IReV, and proactive crisis management.
INEC also disclosed that it would require about 1.4 million ad-hoc personnel to conduct the 2027 general election across more than 176,000 polling units nationwide.
The commission said it has established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence, AI, Unit to explore the responsible use of AI in data management, voter registration and results transmission.
Amupitan said the unit would also strengthen safeguards against the misuse of artificial intelligence, including threats posed by deepfakes and disinformation.
The 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on January 16, while the governorship and State House of Assembly elections are scheduled for February 6.
Political campaigns for the national elections began on Wednesday, while campaigns for governorship and State Assembly elections will begin on September 9, 2026.
