The Independent National Electoral Commission has assured the Economic Community of West African States of its commitment to conducting credible, transparent and peaceful 2027 general elections, declaring that its allegiance is to Nigerians.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, gave the assurance on Friday while receiving the ECOWAS Pre-Election Fact-Finding Mission, led by former Sierra Leonean Vice President, Victor Foh, at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
According to a statement on the commission’s official X handle on Friday, Amupitan said INEC remained committed to discharging its responsibilities impartially, adding that the 2027 elections would be a major test of the country’s democratic journey since 1999.
He disclosed that the country’s National Register of Voters had surpassed 103 million, while the commission had completed nine of the 14 major statutory milestones in its revised timetable for the elections.
According to him, INEC has concluded three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise and completed the nationwide physical display of the Preliminary Register of Voters.
Providing details of the scale of the exercise, Amupitan said the commission would deploy personnel and technological resources across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, covering 774 local government areas, 8,809 registration areas and 176,846 polling units.
He said INEC had adopted a field-driven approach to assessing its preparedness, including zonal readiness assessment tours across the six geopolitical zones.
On technology, Amupitan reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to deploying the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System for fingerprint and facial biometric accreditation, alongside electronic result management systems.
He also highlighted the introduction of the eEC8A electronic verification platform, which he said would complement transparent result management and verification through the INEC Result Viewing Portal.
On election security, he said the commission was working with relevant security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security to strengthen arrangements ahead of the polls.
Amupitan called for stronger collaboration with ECOWAS in deploying election observers, sharing technical expertise and addressing emerging challenges, including electoral disinformation, logistics and inclusive voter education.
He also urged the regional body to sustain diplomatic engagement with political parties, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to promote peaceful campaigns and respect for democratic commitments.
Earlier, Foh said the fact-finding mission was part of ECOWAS’ established practice of assessing electoral preparedness in member states approaching general elections.
Foh, alongside the Head of the ECOWAS Electoral Assistance Division and Permanent Secretary of ECONEC, Serigne Mamadou Ka, said the mission was undertaken in line with Article 31 of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, Article 53 of the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework and relevant decisions of the Authority of Heads of State and Government.
He stated that the mission was designed to assess the preparedness of electoral stakeholders and identify areas where the regional organisation could provide support.