2027: INEC to Deploy 1.4m Ad-Hoc Staff Across 176,000 Polling Units

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will deploy about 1.4 million ad-hoc personnel to more than 176,000 polling units across the country for the 2027 general elections.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja when he received a Pre-Election Assessment Mission (PEAM) delegation of the International Republican Institute (IRI), led by former United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and former US Ambassador to South Africa, Ambassador Jendayi Frazier.

Amupitan stated that the scale of the planned deployment reflected the enormous logistical demands of the 2027 elections, which would require the commission to further expand its administrative and operational capacity.

He said INEC had been using recent off-cycle governorship elections and legislative by-elections to test its technology, logistics and security arrangements ahead of the general elections.

The chairman cited the recent governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states as part of the operational exercises, saying they had provided the commission with opportunities to assess its preparedness under real electoral conditions.

According to him, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal had continued to perform reliably in recent elections.

He said the system for uploading polling unit result sheets had recorded rates above 98 per cent in recent off-cycle contests.

“Technology has permanently closed the door on legacy voting vulnerabilities, ensuring that the ballot box alone determines electoral outcomes,” Amupitan said.

He disclosed that the commission was also continuing with its voter registration and register-cleaning processes, using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) to detect and eliminate duplicate records.

The INEC chairman said the commission was equally working to improve its logistics, including expanding early deployment arrangements and strengthening partnerships with transport unions to facilitate the timely opening of polling units.

He said the commission was targeting the statutory 8:30am commencement of voting across polling locations.

Amupitan also highlighted measures being developed to improve access for vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities, pregnant women, nursing mothers and elderly voters.

He said INEC remained concerned about security threats, electoral violence, vote-buying, hate speech and the spread of misinformation and disinformation, including foreign information manipulation and interference.

The commission, he said, was working with security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), while collaborating with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on issues including campaign finance violations and electoral offences.

The chairman said the commission would also participate later on Tuesday in the signing of the first National Peace Accord on issue-based campaigns organised by the National Peace Committee.

He said the accord was expected to promote political civility ahead of the 2027 elections.

Amupitan described the IRI delegation’s visit, scheduled for August 11 to 21, as timely, particularly coming days after the August 15 Osun governorship election and ahead of the statutory commencement of campaigns for the 2027 general elections on Wednesday.

He said international election observation missions were important partners in strengthening the electoral process and assured the delegation of INEC’s transparency and cooperation during its assessment.

“The objective insights, risk analyses, and recommendations provided by pre-election missions like yours help us refine our operational strategies, identify blind spots, and build public trust,” he said.

The INEC chairman reiterated that the commission remained politically neutral and would provide a level playing field for all political parties and candidates.

He said INEC’s mandate was to conduct elections that were free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive and that reflected the will of Nigerian voters.

The IRI delegation was led by Frazier and included IRI Vice President, Scott Mastic; Africa Regional Director, Jenai Cox; West Africa Regional Programme Director, Sentell Barnes; and other senior officials of the institute.

Amupitan noted that INEC valued IRI’s longstanding support for democratic institutions and electoral management bodies across Africa, adding that the commission looked forward to receiving the delegation’s assessment and recommendations ahead of the 2027 elections.