2027 Elections: INEC to Conduct Nationwide Mock Accreditation, Voting November 28

ABUJA — The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will hold a nationwide mock accreditation and voting exercise on November 28 to evaluate its preparedness for the 2027 general elections.

The commission’s Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, made the disclosure on Thursday during a conference at Chatham House in London.

The conference, which examined the theme “Democratic trajectory beyond the ballot,” was organised ahead of the 2027 elections.

According to Amupitan, the proposed exercise will replicate a presidential election, allowing INEC to test its accreditation procedures and ensure that the electronic transmission of results functions as expected.

“On the 28th of this month, we are planning a mock accreditation and voting across all the states in Nigeria, so that we simulate a presidential election and just be sure that we have gotten it right and that there will be transmission of result,” he said.

The chairman maintained that the commission had drawn important lessons from previous electoral exercises and was implementing measures to correct weaknesses identified in the process.

He specifically mentioned the 2023 general elections and subsequent off-cycle polls in Anambra and Osun states as experiences that had helped shape the commission’s preparations.

“Nigerians must trust me because I’ve done off-cycle elections, and you agreed the last election in Osun State, there was improvement, and I said every election is a lesson. 2023 election was a great lesson for Nigeria. The one we had in Anambra was another. So we’ve learned certain things, and as a commission, we sat down to address some of those issues, and we have taken steps one after the other,” Amupitan said.

He explained that INEC was also working to improve its logistical arrangements to ensure that elections were conducted efficiently and results announced promptly.

Using the Anambra governorship election as an example, he said the commission successfully declared the outcome the day after voting.

“We are trying to improve on logistics to ensure that everything is done within the day, and then result. Look at the way we did an Anambra election. By the following day, we declared the result,” he said.

Amupitan further cited elections conducted in the FCT and Osun State, where he said the results were announced the following day.

He noted that the elections also provided an opportunity for voters and other stakeholders to observe the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the electronic transmission of results.

“In FCT, the same thing. In Osun, that used to be a serious problem, that the whole world thought that the whole country will collapse with Osun election the following day, the result was declared, and everybody saw the functioning of B-VAS and the transmission of results,” he added.

The INEC boss said the commission’s preparations were aimed at avoiding the shortcomings experienced in previous elections and strengthening confidence in the 2027 electoral process.

He emphasised that transparency and the ability of stakeholders to independently scrutinise and audit the process remained essential to credible elections.

“So those are things and steps that we have taken to ensure that we don’t go back to the mistake of the past. And like somebody said, it’s not about if this whole process because if the process is transparent and everybody can audit it.”

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