2027:  Should INEC’s  Assurances Be Trusted?

The Independent National Electoral Commission may have assured Nigerians that the 2027 election would be the best in the country’s history, but can it be trusted? Davidson Iriekpen asks

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, penultimate week conceded that the commission would not guarantee a 100 per cent flawless general election in 2027, especially in the electronic transmission of results. He, however, maintained that the polls would be the best Nigeria has ever conducted.

Speaking in Abuja at the Citizens’ Townhall on the Electoral Act 2026, tagged, ‘Electoral Act 2026: What it means for your votes and the 2027 elections,’ Amupitan said the commission had the capacity to transmit election results in 2027 electronically, but cautioned that it may not be able to guarantee a “100 per cent” perfection.

While he added that the commission was working to deliver significant improvements, the INEC chair said the technical glitches experienced during the 2023 presidential election would not recur in 2027.

Amupitan, who described elections as central to democratic governance, emphasised the importance of voter education and institutional transparency. He identified logistics and result management as critical operational challenges facing the commission.

He also explained that network availability — rather than the concept of electronic transmission itself — remained the major hurdle. He equally appealed to Nigerians to manage expectations, saying the commission would strive for excellence but could not promise perfection.

“We will try to give Nigerians a near-perfect election,” he said.

To many Nigerians, three issues may have necessitated Amupitan’s assurances. First was the commission’s poor outing in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) area council elections.

His second motive was to address the despondency of many Nigerians following the National Assembly’s refusal to make electronic transmission compulsory in the Electoral Act.

Third, the electoral body had announced on penultimate Friday that the presidential and National Assembly elections would take place on Saturday, January 16, 2027, while the governorship and state Houses of Assembly Elections would now hold on Saturday, February 6, 2027.

It would be recalled that the commission had earlier fixed the presidential and National Assembly elections for February 20, 2027, and the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections for March 6, 2027, before it changed the dates in line with the 2026 Electoral Act.

The change in the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 general election became imperative following President Bola Tinubu’s assent to the Electoral Act amendment bill recently passed by the National Assembly.

Section 60(3), which guarantees the electronic transmission of results, has been the bone of contention since the 2026 Electoral Act came into effect.

It was against this background that opposition parties called for an immediate amendment to the Electoral Act 2026, describing it as anti-democratic and skewed ahead of the 2027 elections.

But speaking at the town hall meeting, Amupitan revealed that as part of efforts to test its result-transmission infrastructure and prevent a repeat of past technical setbacks, the commission would conduct a mock presidential exercise ahead of the 2027 general election.

He stated, “Election anywhere in the world is now about technology, but before deploying any technology, it is important to test it thoroughly. So, my own audit of the 2023 election, while the BVAS was tested within the states for the Osun election and the Ekiti election. However, when it came to the federal election, especially the presidential election, which became inter-state, it was not properly tested.”

Before the FCT area council elections, analysts had said that though they seem small, in reality, they carry many unique stakes. The way the elections are conducted and decided would touch on national questions of electoral reform, test the ruling party’s strength one year out from a general vote, and perhaps even highlight the gulf between the capital’s urban newcomers and its rural indigenes. 

But in its characteristic manner, the commission failed to live up to the expectations of many Nigerians. Coming on the heels of the amended Electoral Act 2026, they were more than a routine democratic exercise. As a test-run of the Act, and a litmus test for Amupitan, they were, indeed, questionable.

A human rights activist and lawyer, Chidi Odinkalu, took a swipe at Amupitan, saying he doubts his ability to conduct free and fair elections in 2027.

Odinkalu, who is also a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), cited the issue of election logistics in the nation’s capital, describing it as poorly coordinated. He noted that Nigerians were not asking for perfection but evidence of commitment to improvements by the electoral body.

The criticisms stem from the big scandal reminiscent of what happened in the 2023 election, where in a polling unit, the All Progressives Congress (APC) recorded a whopping 1,219 votes whereas the total accredited voters were 213. 

According to information and pictures of a mutilated form EC8A circulating online, the polling unit in AMAC had 345 total registered voters; total accredited voters were 213, total ballots issued were also 213 while total valid votes were 211. 

Surprisingly, APC’s recorded score (in figures) was 1,212 (alternatively cited as 1,219 in secondary tallies). In words, Form EC8A was written as one hundred and twenty-one. Also from the form, the 1,219 was mutilated to show that the figure initially entered into the space was one figure. 

The mismatch between the figures and the written words suggests a desperate attempt to inflate the ruling party’s numbers. If the figure of 1,219 is taken as the official record, it means the APC somehow manufactured 1,006 votes out of thin air — nearly six times the total number of people who actually showed up to vote, the same development that marred the last election, particularly in most states that were considered strongholds of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP). 

Also, the issue of vote buying was recorded in some places, reminiscent of past elections in Nigeria. This is also true of the 2023 election where INEC failed to live above board.

What perhaps Amupitan does not realise is that if the National Assembly is not making real-time electronic transmission of results to the IReV, the burden of conducting free, fair and credible elections squarely rests on him.

By conceding that it may not be able to guarantee a “100 per cent perfect”, there is no doubt that the commission will not be able to stand up to the ruling APC when it begins to manipulate the process.

This is why while it is good that it has continued to assure Nigerians that the 2027 general election would be credible, it must ensure that it does not encourage voter apathy and civic disenchantment.

At all times, Amupitan must ensure that he holds on tenaciously to his much-touted integrity and credibility to address the credibility deficit that followed the elections in the country. He must also strive to present himself as a trustworthy man committed to the sanctity of the ballot, not a servant of political interests.