The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified six major threats to the 2027 general elections.
The Chairman of the commission, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja while receiving a delegation of the International Republican Institute (IRI) Pre-Election Assessment Mission (PEAM), led by former US Under Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Jendayi Frazier.
Amupitan said the identified threats could undermine voter confidence and pose significant challenges to the electoral process if not addressed effectively.
The six threats identified by the commission are:
Security Risks Localized Electoral Violence Vote Buying Hate Speech Disinformation Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI)
The visit came three days after the off-cycle Osun State gubernatorial election and a day before the legal commencement of public campaigns and rallies for the 2027 general elections on Wednesday, August 19.
The INEC chairman said the assessment mission provided an independent perspective as the commission transitioned to full-scale preparations for the 2027 elections.
READ ALSO: 2027: Elections are not a matter of life and death, Tinubu tells political actors
He revealed that INEC was expanding its operational capacity to deploy approximately 1.4 million ad hoc personnel to over 176,000 polling units across the country during the 2027 elections.
Amupitan also said the commission was using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), under the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) framework, to identify and remove duplicate entries and maintain a clean and verified National Voter Registry.
According to him, the recent off-cycle gubernatorial elections and legislative by-elections served as operational tests for the commission’s field logistics, security coordination and technological systems.
He said the deployment of technology had significantly reduced vulnerabilities associated with previous voting processes in Nigeria.
“The performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, for dual biometric verification and real-time public display of Voting Unit results sheets, Form EC8A, on the INEC Results Viewing portal, IReV, continues to demonstrate high operational reliability, achieving loading rates of over 98 percent in recent off-cycle contests,” he said.
Amupitan said the commission’s operational roadmap included audits of voter registration, early deployment agreements with transportation unions to ensure polling units opened at 8:30 a.m. and enhanced assistive devices for people with disabilities, pregnant women and elderly voters.
On security and financial threats, he said INEC was working with security agencies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Electoral Security (ICCES), as well as anti-corruption agencies including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC).
He said the collaboration was aimed at enforcing campaign finance regulations, monitoring election crimes and ensuring violators were prosecuted.
WATCH THE BEST VIDEOS FROM Newslodge TV