The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says Nigeria’s voter register is approaching 100 million ahead of the 2027 general elections, following the registration of 10,772,421 new voters during the latest Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Monday in Lagos during a two-day strategic operational workshop for the commission’s administrative secretaries.
Amupitan also announced plans to introduce a real-time election readiness tracker that will enable INEC to monitor preparations across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
According to a statement by INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, the tracker will provide real-time information on logistics, recruitment and training of ad hoc personnel, electoral technology and other areas of election preparation.
The system will operate through a standardised Administrative Secretary Master Operational Tracker Template linked to INEC’s Election Monitoring and Support Centre dashboard and Election Project Plan.
Amupitan said the initiative was aimed at addressing the absence of a uniform mechanism for monitoring the operational responsibilities of administrative secretaries across the country.
He explained that the new system would give Resident Electoral Commissioners, supervising national commissioners, the Secretary to the Commission and INEC headquarters immediate visibility into the level of preparedness in each state.
The tracker will monitor key areas such as the distribution of election materials, recruitment and training of ad hoc personnel and overall state-level readiness.
According to the chairman, the initiative is intended to shift INEC away from last-minute preparations and towards a more proactive approach to election management.
10.7m New Registrants
Amupitan said the latest CVR exercise, conducted in three phases between August 2025 and July 2026, produced 10,772,421 new registrants.
He noted that the figures remain subject to verification through INEC’s Automated Biometric Identification System.
With the new registrations, he said the National Register of Voters is now approaching the 100 million mark.
The INEC chairman also assured Nigerians that the commission would work to ensure eligible voters were not disenfranchised because of challenges associated with the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards.
Amupitan identified voter registration, logistics and materials management, electoral technology, optimisation of ad hoc personnel and financial compliance as five major operational areas under review at the workshop.
He said the readiness tracker would become a permanent operational and onboarding tool for administrative secretaries rather than being limited to the 2027 election cycle.
The chairman said INEC was applying lessons from recent off-cycle elections, including the Osun State governorship election, where he said effective logistics and technology contributed to what the commission considered a transparent electoral process.
“We are now working to replicate that standard nationally,” he said.
Amupitan said INEC had approximately six months to complete preparations for the 2027 general elections.
The presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections are scheduled for February 6, 2027.
INEC Begins Six-Zone Readiness Assessment
Separately, Amupitan warned that pressure on INEC personnel would intensify as the 2027 elections approach.
He spoke at a South-West zonal interactive meeting and readiness assessment in Lagos, marking the beginning of a six-zone tour designed to evaluate the commission’s preparedness nationwide.
“The eyes of 200 million Nigerians, and the world, are fixed on us,” he said.
The meeting, held in Ikeja, was part of a revised approach to zonal election preparations. Amupitan said the new strategy would move beyond the traditional model in which preparations were largely coordinated by directorates at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
He stressed that INEC’s true level of preparedness would be measured not in Abuja meeting rooms but at local government areas, registration area centres and polling units across the country.
The chairman identified voter apathy, declining public trust, misinformation and disinformation as some of the major challenges that could affect the 2027 elections.
He said the professionalism and conduct of INEC field officers would remain critical to countering false narratives and maintaining public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC is also reviewing its result-management systems, including the recently introduced eEC8A, which is designed to strengthen the verification of polling-unit results at the national collation centre.
Amupitan warned electoral officials against partisan behaviour and administrative negligence, referencing Section 26 of the Electoral Act, which requires relevant electoral and security personnel to take an oath of neutrality.
The commission said the South-West engagement would focus on logistics, electoral technology, security, voter education, recruitment and stakeholder engagement as preparations for the 2027 elections gather pace.
