100 Days To 2027 Polls: INEC Vows Neutrality, Says BVAS, Ballots Ready

By Felix Umande

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has assured Nigerians and the international community of its neutrality and commitment to the integrity of the ballot as the country begins the final 100-day countdown to the 2027 general elections.

Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, gave the assurance on Tuesday at a World Press Conference and National Stakeholders’ Meeting at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja.

“We have moved decisively from planning into execution. Our materials are in production, our technology is undergoing rigorous quality assurance, our register is finalised and our workforce is being systematically trained,” he said, describing the 100-day mark as a call to action.

Prof. Amupitan said since assuming office on October 23, 2025, the Commission had conducted off-cycle governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun, FCT Area Council polls and several bye-elections, which passed integrity benchmarks and tested early deployment of materials and intelligence-led security.

He said of the 14 statutory milestones in the revised timetable released on February 26, nine had been executed, synchronised across 23 headquarters departments, 36 state offices, the FCT and 774 LGAs.

On the voter roll, he disclosed that 10.7 million new voters were registered in three phases of CVR, bringing the national register to 103 million. The register will be displayed for claims and objections from October 9 to 15, while distribution of Phase 1 PVCs begins October 9.

Eighteen of 22 parties submitted 36 presidential tickets, while the final list for National Assembly candidates was published September 12. Governorship and State Assembly lists will be out October 10.

On logistics, Amupitan said production of 57,000 new BVAS devices is advanced, procurement of ballots and result sheets is near completion, and MoUs have been renewed with NURTW, RTEAN and MWUN for over 100,000 vehicles and 4,000 boats. Sensitive materials will move from CBN vaults 72 hours before polls to 8,838 RACs by 4pm on election eve to enable 7:30am opening.

On technology, a six-day BVAS stress test is scheduled for October 23-28, with nationwide mock accreditation in November. He announced a new Artificial Intelligence Division within ICT operating under human oversight.

On security, he said INEC working through ICCES will train thousands of electoral security personnel and deploy joint undercover teams with EFCC, ICPC and NFIU to track vote-buying. Violators will face arrest under the Electoral Act 2026.

INEC requires 707,384 ad-hoc staff per election day — January 16 and February 6, 2027 — totalling 1.4 million engagements across 176,846 polling units. Recruitment via INECPRES opened September 18 and closes November 18.

He warned against AI-driven disinformation, urging media to fact-check and avoid premature results declaration. “In national elections, it is far more important to be right than to be first,” he said, adding that the Media Accreditation Portal will go live before end of October.

Representing the IGP, AIG Alyonu Idu said police are conducting clearance operations in Kogi, Niger, Benue and Taraba to stabilise flashpoints and will review pre-election work in November.

EU Ambassador Gautier Mingot described INEC’s task as “Herculean” and said the EU will deploy an expert mission for the polls.