2027: INEC Resolves Technical Glitches, Assures Nigerians of Credible Polls

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed confidence in its ability to conduct a free, fair, credible, inclusive and transparent 2027 general election, saying it has learnt important lessons from the technical challenges that affected the electronic transmission of results during the 2023 polls.

The commission also disclosed that it was considering a nationwide mock exercise on electronic transmission of election results ahead of the 2027 elections to test the reliability and readiness of its systems well before the polls.

INEC National Commissioner Abdullahi Zuru, who represented the commission's Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, made the disclosure on Thursday at a policy roundtable on electronic transmission and collation of election results organised by Yiaga Africa.

Zuru, who delivered the chairman's goodwill message, said the commission had significantly improved its deployment of election technology following the difficulties encountered during the 2023 general election.

He recalled that INEC had, before the 2023 election, consistently advocated legal backing for the electronic transmission of results and had previously deployed its INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal in several off-cycle elections before expanding its use nationwide.

However, he acknowledged that the commission experienced technical difficulties while uploading presidential election results to the IReV portal during the 2023 polls.

"Unfortunately, this became very important in the light of the technical glitch experienced in uploading presidential election results to IReV. Let me assure you that we at INEC have learnt our lessons and improved our operations," Zuru said.

According to him, elections conducted since the 2023 general election, including governorship polls, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections and several bye-elections, had demonstrated improvements in the commission's capacity to deploy technology in the electoral process.

He cited the recent Anambra governorship election and FCT Area Council elections as evidence of the progress made since the 2023 elections.

"We want to use this opportunity to assure Nigerians in general, and the voters in particular, that INEC will ensure that the 2027 general election shall be free, fair, credible, inclusive and transparent. Every valid vote will count. Voters will decide who governs them," he said.

Zuru was responding to concerns surrounding the technical glitches and allegations of hacking that followed the 2023 presidential election when he said INEC was confident it could manage similar challenges in future elections.

"Yes, we are confident we will be able to handle these issues. We've conducted several elections, bye-elections and governorship elections since the 2023 incidents, and everybody agrees that there's remarkable improvement in the elections that have been conducted," he said.

He, however, cautioned that technology alone could not guarantee credible elections, stressing that the integrity and conduct of political actors, electoral officials and other stakeholders remained equally important.

"There are three important things: honesty, truth and sincerity. Once these things are there, technology will not be an issue. Let us leverage these values as a nation to ensure that everything we do is sincere, truthful and honest," Zuru said.

The Director of Information and Communication Technology at INEC, Dr Lawrence Bayode, said the commission had already tested its enhanced results transmission system during the FCT Area Council and Ekiti governorship elections.

Bayode explained that the system was designed to strengthen the integrity of results by ensuring that the result uploaded to the IReV portal corresponds with the authentic polling unit result recorded on the appropriate electoral form.

"Our system has been piloted in the FCT and Ekiti elections. Every result uploaded to the IReV during those elections used Form EC8A. This is not something we are just introducing. It is something we have tested, and that is why we will deploy it for the forthcoming elections," Bayode said.

He added that the technology was intended to reduce discrepancies in the results management process by providing a mechanism for verifying that results transmitted from polling units were authentic.

"It is a tool that will check that the result emanating from the polling unit is the true result from that polling unit," he said.

The commission's position comes amid renewed public scrutiny of Nigeria's electronic results transmission system, particularly following the controversy that surrounded the delayed uploading of presidential election results during the 2023 general election.

While INEC expressed confidence in its improved systems, civil society organisation Yiaga Africa used the policy roundtable to highlight what it described as legal and operational gaps that could undermine transparency in the electronic transmission and collation of results.

The organisation unveiled a policy brief titled Securing the Votes: Electronic Transmission and Collation of Election Results under Nigeria's New Legal Framework.

Presenting the findings, Yiaga Africa Executive Director Samson Itodo said that although the Electoral Act 2026 had made electronic transmission of polling unit results mandatory, important operational questions remained unresolved.

He said one of the concerns was that polling unit results were uploaded to the IReV portal after backend validation rather than immediately after they were entered at polling units.

He also noted that results from ward and local government collation stages were not published on the portal.

According to Itodo, the gaps could limit voters' ability to follow the results management process in real time and potentially deepen public suspicion about the integrity of election outcomes.

Yiaga Africa consequently called on INEC to publish a clear and detailed protocol governing the transmission of polling unit results.

The organisation also recommended that ward and local government collation results be uploaded to the IReV portal to provide greater visibility across the various stages of the results management process.

It further urged the commission to clarify which version of Form EC8A should be regarded as legally authoritative where discrepancies arise, review relevant provisions of its regulations and develop a comprehensive results management manual.

The group also called for nationwide mock exercises before the 2027 general election to enable INEC and other stakeholders to identify and address possible technical and operational weaknesses ahead of election day.

Responding to Yiaga Africa's recommendations, Zuru said the commission was already considering a nationwide mock exercise and would seek to conduct it well ahead of the 2027 general election.

"This is advice being given by Yiaga Africa, and it comes at a time we are thinking in the same direction. We will not wait until one or two weeks before the election; we will try to do that much earlier," he said.

The planned exercise, if implemented nationwide, could provide an opportunity for INEC to test the performance of its electronic results transmission infrastructure under conditions designed to simulate the demands of a general election.

It could also allow the commission to identify potential technical bottlenecks and strengthen the capacity of election officials and other relevant personnel before the 2027 polls.

Also speaking at the event, the European Union Programme Manager for Democracy and Governance, Laolu Olawunmi, said public confidence in elections was closely linked to the credibility and transparency of the results management process.

"Election results management is the stage where public trust is either built or broken," she said.

Olawunmi urged INEC to intensify stress testing of its technology, improve the capacity of its systems to handle large volumes of uploads and conduct practical simulations ahead of future elections.

She also called for increased training for election officials and greater access for political party agents and election observers to collation centres as part of efforts to strengthen transparency and public confidence.

Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Yusuf Dantalle, said Nigeria's electoral legal framework still required further reforms to strengthen the country's democratic process.

Dantalle observed that the high cost of conducting party primaries had pushed some political parties towards the adoption of consensus candidates.

He said IPAC would continue to engage relevant stakeholders and advocate reforms aimed at improving the electoral process.

The latest debate comes as INEC intensifies preparations for the 2027 general election, with electronic results transmission expected to remain a major component of the electoral process.

While the commission insists that it has improved its technological capacity since the 2023 elections, concerns raised by Yiaga Africa and other stakeholders highlight the need for greater transparency, clear operational procedures and extensive testing.

With the 2027 polls approaching, the credibility of the results management system is likely to remain a central issue in the preparations for the elections, as INEC faces the task of not only deploying technology but also convincing voters, political parties and observers that the entire process is reliable, transparent and capable of delivering results that command public confidence.