By Faith Anisiobi, The Sight News
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has described the 15 August 2026 Osun State governorship election as a “gold standard” for electoral administration, while announcing plans to conduct a nationwide mock accreditation exercise in November ahead of the 2027 General Election.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Friday in Abuja while receiving the Chargé d’Affaires of the Canadian High Commission to Nigeria, Mr David Sproule, and the newly appointed Country Representative of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), Mr Moritz Sprenker, who separately paid courtesy visits to the Commission.
Amupitan said the Osun election demonstrated the effectiveness of the Commission’s administrative planning and electoral technology, noting that 3,556 of the 3,763 polling units in the state, representing 94.5 per cent, opened for accreditation and voting by 8:30 a.m.
He attributed the performance to the effective deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), seamless transmission of results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal and proactive crisis management by field officials.
“We view the success in Osun not as a final destination, but as the gold standard that will guide our preparations for 2027,” the INEC chairman said.
He said the November mock accreditation exercise would provide a rigorous field test of the BVAS and help the Commission identify and address possible challenges before the 2027 elections.
Amupitan also disclosed that INEC was considering the need for a voter revalidation exercise, particularly for elderly voters who registered as far back as 2011.
According to him, the exercise cannot be undertaken before the 2027 elections because of time constraints but remains necessary to prevent delays and other challenges in future electoral processes.
The INEC chairman said the Commission was also focused on strengthening electoral inclusion for persons with disabilities, women, youths and other underrepresented groups across the country’s more than 176,000 polling units.
He identified five areas of strategic priority in Nigeria’s electoral partnership with Canada: consolidating the technological gains recorded in Osun, deepening electoral inclusion, strengthening institutional capacity through technical assistance and training, countering election-related misinformation, and supporting the planned mock accreditation exercise.
Amupitan further revealed that INEC had established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence (AI) Unit to enhance data management, voter registration and results transmission, while putting safeguards in place against the misuse of the technology.
The INEC chairman said the Commission was preparing for the 2027 elections, with the Presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for 16 January 2027 and the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections slated for 6 February 2027.
He also recalled that public campaigns and rallies for the elections officially commenced on 19 August 2026, following the signing of the first National Peace Accord on issue-based campaigning by presidential candidates and political party chairmen.
Canada Pledges Support
Responding, Sproule commended INEC’s efforts to promote free and credible elections and reaffirmed Canada’s readiness to support the Commission in areas it considers necessary, including election observation.
He expressed particular interest in the participation of women and other segments of society in the electoral process, saying Canada remained confident in INEC’s capacity to conduct credible elections.
Amupitan said Canada’s continued support for electoral governance, civic education, institutional strengthening and gender inclusion had contributed to Nigeria’s democratic development.
INEC, KAS Deepen Partnership
At a separate meeting with KAS Country Representative, Sprenker, Amupitan congratulated him on his appointment and described the organization as a longstanding partner of the Commission.
He said INEC and KAS had collaborated on regulatory frameworks for political parties, including technical retreats in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, and Lagos, which he said contributed to the Commission’s preparations for the Osun election.
He identified civic education, democratic culture, electoral technology, institutional capacity building, countering misinformation, inclusion of persons with disabilities and marginalized groups, and interagency dialogue for peaceful elections as areas for further collaboration.
Sprenker said KAS operates in more than 100 countries and had worked in Nigeria for over 25 years with government, civil society, academia and the media.
He recalled a capacity-building workshop on procurement organized with INEC in Lagos in March 2026 and expressed the Foundation’s commitment to strengthening its partnership with the electoral commission.
Amupitan used both engagements to reassure the international community of INEC’s independence, neutrality and commitment to democratic integrity as the Commission prepares to deploy approximately 1.4 million ad-hoc personnel across more than 176,000 polling units nationwide for the 2027 General Election.
