The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct a nationwide mock accreditation exercise in November 2026 as part of preparations for the 2027 general elections.
The exercise will test the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and other electoral equipment, while helping the commission identify and fix possible problems before the elections.
INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Friday when a delegation from the Canadian High Commission, led by Chargé d’Affaires David Sproule, visited the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Amupitan said the mock exercise was one of five major priorities adopted by the commission ahead of the 2027 polls.
He listed the other priorities as improving the use of technology, expanding electoral inclusion, strengthening the commission’s capacity and technical support, and tackling misinformation while protecting electoral integrity.
The INEC chairman said recent elections, including the Osun governorship poll, had provided useful lessons for improving the electoral process.
He said the August 15 Osun election recorded the opening of 3,556 out of 3,763 polling units by 8:30 a.m., representing 94.5 per cent.
Amupitan also said the election recorded good BVAS performance and smooth uploading of results to the INEC Result Viewing portal.
He disclosed that INEC would need about 1.4 million ad-hoc personnel to conduct the 2027 elections across more than 176,000 polling units.
The commission has also established an Artificial Intelligence Unit to examine the responsible use of AI in areas such as data management, voter registration and results transmission.
Amupitan said INEC would continue to strengthen safeguards against the misuse of AI and other technologies during elections.