The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced a nationwide assessment of its preparedness for the 2027 General Election, with the Commission’s Chairman, Professor Joash O. Amupitan, SAN, directing officials to identify and close operational gaps ahead of the polls.
Amupitan gave the directive on Monday in Kaduna during the North-West Zonal Interactive Meeting with Staff and Readiness Assessment for the 2027 General Election.
The Kaduna meeting is part of INEC’s six-zone national engagement designed to assess the Commission’s level of preparedness, identify challenges affecting field operations and develop solutions ahead of the 2027 elections.
Speaking at the event, Amupitan said the success of any election depended largely on activities at the grassroots, particularly at Local Government Areas, Registration Area Centres and polling units.
He urged staff to use the engagement to highlight practical challenges in their respective areas and work with the Commission’s headquarters to resolve them before election day.
“The true success of any election is not decided solely in the meeting rooms of our headquarters in Abuja. It is decided in the field,” he said.
The INEC Chairman also warned officials against partisan conduct and administrative negligence, stressing that neutrality and professionalism among electoral personnel were essential to maintaining public confidence in the electoral process.
According to him, the Commission is building on lessons from previous elections while strengthening its systems for the larger national assignment in 2027.
Amupitan disclosed that the three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise had produced 10,772,421 new registrations, subject to verification through the Automated Biometric Identification System.
He further directed that bottlenecks affecting the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards at the Local Government Area level be eliminated to prevent eligible voters from being disenfranchised due to logistical challenges.
The Chairman said INEC was also refining its technological systems for voter verification and result transmission, including its Result Management Systems and the recently introduced eEC8A.
He added that the Commission was implementing a “Zero-Failure” approach to election logistics, covering early deployment of election materials, transportation, security coordination and training of ad-hoc personnel.
Earlier, the Supervising National Commissioner for Kaduna, Mallam Kudu Haruna, said the zonal meetings were designed to allow the Commission’s leadership to directly engage staff across the country and assess their preparedness despite the limited time before the 2027 elections.
Haruna said the Kaduna engagement began with a courtesy visit by Amupitan to the Emir of Zazzau and Chairman of the Kaduna State Council of Traditional Rulers.
He said the visit provided an opportunity for INEC to brief the traditional institution on preparations for the 2027 elections and seek its support in mobilising eligible Nigerians to participate in the electoral process.
Haruna also disclosed that collection of newly issued Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) is scheduled to commence on October 9, 2026, urging traditional rulers to encourage eligible citizens to collect their cards and exercise their constitutional right to vote.
Director of Planning and Monitoring, Helen Ajayi, said the zonal exercise was aimed at assessing the preparedness of states and identifying operational challenges that could affect the conduct of the 2027 elections.
She added that the meetings would also ensure that INEC personnel across the zone remained aligned with the Commission’s Code of Conduct.
Representatives from the Voter Education and Publicity, Voter Registry, ICT, Human Resources, and Election and Operations departments also briefed participants on their respective responsibilities ahead of the elections.
The meeting later moved to state-by-state situation reports, where representatives from states across the North-West presented their levels of preparedness and highlighted operational and logistical challenges requiring attention ahead of the 2027 polls.
