INEC Plans Mock Voting Exercise for November 28 Ahead of 2027 Elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled a nationwide mock accreditation and voting exercise for November 28, 2026. This event aims to test improvements to its voter accreditation system and electronic results transmission ahead of the 2027 general elections.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, announced the plans during an event at Chatham House in London. He explained that the exercise will simulate the presidential election, allowing the commission to evaluate how well its systems work before the actual polls.

Amupitan mentioned that the commission has put in place technical safeguards to ensure accurate results are reported and to prevent issues like over-voting. He noted that previous audits revealed that most problems with election results stemmed from collation centers, rather than polling units.

In response to past issues with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the commission is building climate-controlled storage facilities to protect the devices. They have also purchased more BVAS machines and reduced the number of voters assigned to each machine, ensuring that polling units with large numbers of voters will have multiple devices available.

Regarding funding for the upcoming elections, Amupitan stated that INEC has received a significant portion of its budget but is waiting for the remaining funds. He expressed hope that these funds would be released soon, as they are needed for hiring and supporting temporary election staff.

Amupitan acknowledged that the controversies surrounding the 2023 elections have hurt public trust in INEC. However, he pointed to recent elections in Anambra and Osun as examples of improvements, where results were declared much faster than in the past.

He encouraged young Nigerians to engage in the electoral process and be wary of misinformation as the 2027 elections approach. The presidential and National Assembly elections are set for January 16, 2027, with governorship elections following on February 6, 2027.