The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified six major threats that could undermine the credibility of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections if left unchecked.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja when he received a Pre-Election Assessment Mission (PEAM) delegation from the International Republican Institute (IRI), led by former United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Jendayi Frazier.
According to Amupitan, the threats include
Security risks,
Localised electoral violence,
Vote-buying,
Hate speech,
Disinformation,
and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI).
He warned that the challenges could weaken public confidence in the electoral process and create significant obstacles to the successful conduct of the 2027 elections if not addressed early.
The meeting came three days after the Osun State governorship election and on the eve of the statutory commencement of public campaigns and rallies for the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan described the IRI assessment as timely, saying the independent mission would provide an external perspective as INEC moves into full-scale preparations for the elections.
He disclosed that the commission was expanding its operational capacity ahead of the polls, with plans to deploy about 1.4 million ad-hoc personnel across more than 176,000 polling units nationwide.
On voter registration, the INEC chairman said the commission had deployed the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) under the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) framework to detect duplicate registrations and strengthen the integrity of the National Register of Voters.
He added that recent off-cycle governorship elections and legislative by-elections had provided opportunities for INEC to test its logistics, security coordination and technological systems ahead of 2027.
Amupitan said technology had helped reduce some of the vulnerabilities associated with Nigeria’s previous electoral processes.
He specifically highlighted the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which is used for biometric verification, as well as the real-time display of polling unit results through the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
According to him, result-upload rates exceeded 98 per cent in recent off-cycle elections, which he described as evidence of the systems’ growing operational reliability.
INEC, he said, was also preparing for the elections through voter register audits, early transportation arrangements with unions to ensure polling units open by 8:30 a.m., and improved assistive facilities for persons with disabilities, pregnant women and elderly voters.
On election security and financial inducements, Amupitan said INEC was strengthening its collaboration with security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The commission is also working with anti-corruption agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), to enforce campaign finance regulations, monitor electoral offences and ensure that offenders face prosecution.
With the 2027 elections approaching, INEC’s latest assessment places security, electoral violence, financial inducement and the growing influence of harmful information among the key issues likely to shape the credibility of the polls.
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