Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is pressing officials to prevent avoidable failures ahead of the 2027 vote, after INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan warned that the public could view errors as deliberate manipulation.
BusinessDay reported that Amupitan, speaking at a South-South staff meeting in Port Harcourt, said INEC faced a “serious trust deficit.” He urged officials to begin election work early and follow the regulated voting start of 2:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. in Nigeria).
Amupitan said staff should complete voter accreditation and electronic result uploads during daylight. BVAS works more easily in daylight and can take longer to upload results after dark, he said, adding that delays can deepen suspicion about the process.
He also said prompt transmission to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) was important. The commission has introduced an EC8A verification platform to let officials address collation issues at polling units before results are uploaded. Amupitan said IReV would draw worldwide attention and that staff should resolve issues in front of people at polling units so posted results are authentic.
Amupitan said administrative errors or a failure to provide election materials should not prevent eligible voters from casting ballots.
Rivers State Resident Electoral Commissioner Johnson Alalibo Sinikiem said the meeting would review INEC’s readiness, flag unfinished tasks, set priorities and monitor progress. He listed office preparedness, staffing and logistics, electoral technology, election-material security and voter education among the areas requiring attention.
Amupitan said Rivers State has 3.7 million registered voters, the largest number in the South-South region, which has 15.8 million registered voters in total.
INEC’s 2027 election calendar sets Jan. 16, 2027, for the presidential and National Assembly elections.
