By Becky Momodu
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has successfully completed nine of the 14 major statutory milestones outlined in its revised timetable for the 2027 general election.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Friday in Abuja while receiving the ECOWAS Pre-Election Fact-Finding Mission to Nigeria at the Commission’s national headquarters.
Amupitan said the Commission had remained on schedule in implementing its electoral activities, including the completion of three structured phases of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
He also disclosed that INEC had concluded the physical display of the Preliminary Register of Voters at Registration Areas nationwide.
According to him, the Commission has complemented the exercise with the publication of the preliminary register on its dedicated online portal to enable members of the public scrutinise the register and submit claims and objections.
He said the exercise was preparatory to the certification of the Final Register of Voters scheduled for December 15, 2026.
The INEC chairman said the Commission was adopting a hands-on approach to preparations for the elections through zonal readiness assessment tours across the six geopolitical zones.
He explained that the assessments, which had been concluded in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East, were aimed at engaging field personnel, inspecting logistics and infrastructure, and consulting traditional and community leaders.
Amupitan said the Commission was also upgrading its technological infrastructure, with the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for biometric accreditation and electronic result management systems to strengthen transparency.
He added that the newly introduced eEC8A electronic verification platform would complement the result management process, alongside the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
The INEC chairman said the Commission was preparing for the elections with a voter population of over 103 million registered citizens across 176,846 polling units in 774 local government areas.
He said the Presidential and National Assembly elections would hold on January 16, 2027, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections were scheduled for February 6, 2027.
Amupitan gave assurances that the Commission was committed to conducting credible elections, adding that its preparations also covered staff welfare and election security.
Abuja Times reports that the ECOWAS delegation is in Nigeria to assess preparations for the 2027 general election and engage political parties, civil society organisations, security agencies and other stakeholders.
