The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled a nationwide mock accreditation and voting exercise for November 28, 2026, as part of efforts to test its electoral technology ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, announced this on Thursday in London during a high-level dialogue at Chatham House, organised in partnership with the Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), under the theme, “Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Democratic Trajectory and Regional Stability Beyond the Ballot”.
Amupitan said that the exercise would stimulate the presidential election and test the commission’s accreditation and electronic result transmission systems across all states of the federation.
“On the 28th of this month, we will conduct a mock accreditation across all states of the federation to stimulate the presidential election and verify that we have gotten both accreditation and electronic result transmission right”, he said.
The INEC has chairman, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria further stated that the exercise was part of measures to address technical challenges experienced during the 2023 general elections and strengthen the credibility of the 2027 polls.
He disclosed that the commission had procured extra devices and reduced maximum number of voters assigned to each BVAS machine from 1,250 to 850.
According to him, polling units with more than 850 registered voters will be provided with multiple devices.
Amupitan also said INEC was constructing climate-controlled storage facilities in all states to address the malfunction of BVAS devices previously linked to extreme heat conditions during the 2023 elections.
On electronic result transmission, he explained that the commission had introduced technical safeguards to prevent inaccurate results and figures reflecting over-voting from being uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal (iReV).
He identified insecurity, logistics and result management as the commission’s three major priorities ahead of 2027 general elections.
The commission has also commenced the distribution of non-sensitive election materials to some states as preparations gather momentum.
INEC’s planned mock exercise comes ahead of the 2027 presidential election scheduled for January 16, 2027, with other elections expected to follow under the commission’s electoral timetable.
The November 28 exercise will provide an important opportunity for INEC to demonstrate whether its technological improvements can address the weaknesses exposed during the previous general elections.
Political parties and election observers are expected to closely monitor the preparations as the commission works to restore confidence in the electoral system.
-9News Nigeria.
