2027 Elections: INEC plans deployment of 1.4m Ad-hoc staff to 176,000 polling units

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is preparing to deploy about 1.4 million ad-hoc personnel across more than 176,000 polling units nationwide for the 2027 General Election.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during a meeting with a Pre-Election Assessment Mission from the International Republican Institute (IRI), led by former United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Jendayi Frazier.

Amupitan said the commission has begun intensifying preparations for what is expected to be one of Nigeria’s biggest electoral exercises, with attention focused on voter registration, logistics, security, accessibility and technology.

He said recent off-cycle elections, including the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections and legislative by-elections, had provided INEC with opportunities to test its operational capacity.

According to him, the elections served as “live operational stress tests” for the commission’s technology, logistics arrangements and coordination with security agencies.

With the focus now shifting fully to 2027, the INEC chairman said the commission would build on the lessons from those elections to strengthen its preparations.

Amupitan also highlighted what he described as significant improvements in the use of technology, particularly the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.

He said the real-time upload of Polling Unit Result Sheets, known as Form EC8A, exceeded 98 per cent during recent off-cycle elections.

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

However, he cautioned that technology alone could not guarantee a credible election.

He identified insecurity, electoral violence, vote-buying, hate speech, disinformation and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference as some of the major threats capable of undermining voter confidence.

To tackle the challenges, he said INEC was strengthening collaboration with security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security.

The commission, he added, was also working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to enforce electoral laws, monitor campaign finance and prosecute offenders.

On voter registration, Amupitan said INEC was conducting a comprehensive audit of the national register through the Continuous Voter Registration exercise and the Automated Biometric Identification System to identify and eliminate duplicate registrations.

He also said the commission was expanding its early deployment strategy and strengthening partnerships with transport unions to ensure that personnel and election materials arrive at polling units early enough for voting to commence by 8:30 a.m.

INEC, he added, was placing greater emphasis on inclusive elections by providing assistive devices and priority access for Persons With Disabilities, pregnant women, nursing mothers and elderly voters.

Amupitan assured the IRI delegation of the commission’s open-door policy, describing international observers as important institutional partners whose recommendations could help improve the electoral process and strengthen public confidence.

He also maintained that INEC would remain neutral in the conduct of the 2027 elections.

“As an electoral management body, INEC holds no preference for any political party or candidate. Our sole responsibility is to act as an uncompromising, impartial umpire,” he said.

The IRI assessment mission arrived in Nigeria on August 11 and is expected to conclude its visit on August 21.

The visit comes at a crucial period in Nigeria’s electoral calendar, following the August 15 Osun governorship election and as political activities begin to gather momentum ahead of the 2027 General Election.