INEC plans nationwide mock vote ahead of 2027 general elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is set to conduct a nationwide mock accreditation and voting exercise on 28 November to test its preparations for the 2027 general elections.

INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan announced the plan on Thursday during a conference at Chatham House in London, titled “Democratic trajectory beyond the ballot”.

Mr Amupitan said the exercise would simulate a presidential election and test the commission’s readiness to transmit results.

“On the 28th of this month, we are planning a mock accreditation and voting across all the states in Nigeria, so that we simulate a presidential election and just be sure that we have gotten it right and that there will be transmission of result,” Mr Amupitan said.

The INEC chairman said the commission had reviewed lessons from previous polls, including the 2023 general elections, and pointed to recent off-cycle elections in Anambra, Osun and the Federal Capital Territory as evidence of improvements in the electoral process.

“Nigerians must trust me because I’ve done off-cycle elections, and you agreed the last election in Osun State, there was improvement, and I said every election is a lesson,” he said.

According to Mr Amupitan, the commission is working to enhance logistics to ensure voting and result declarations are completed promptly, noting that results in Anambra were declared the day after voting.

He added that recent off-cycle polls allowed voters to observe the functioning of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the transmission of results.

“So those are things and steps that we have taken to ensure that we don’t go back to the mistake of the past. And like somebody said, it’s not about if this whole process because if the process is transparent and everybody can audit it,” Mr Amupitan said.