The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has hailed its conduct of the August 15 Osun State governorship election as a “superlative benchmark,” saying the lessons and technology from the poll will be fully scaled up for the 2027 General Elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, made this known on Friday, August 21, 2026 in Abuja during separate courtesy visits by the Chargé d’Affaires of the Canadian High Commission, Mr. David Sproule, and the Country Representative of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Mr. Moritz Sprenker.
Prof. Amupitan said the Osun election proved the value of early planning and reliable technology. According to him, 3,556 of the 3,763 polling units in the state, representing 94.5 percent, opened for accreditation and voting by 8:30 a.m.
He credited the performance to the optimal deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, seamless uploading of results to the INEC Result Viewing, IReV, portal, and swift 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 Chairman said.
To test readiness, INEC will conduct a nationwide mock accreditation exercise in November 2026. Prof. Amupitan described it as a rigorous field test of the BVAS designed to fortify the integrity of the ballot ahead of 2027.
The Chairman also announced the creation of a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Unit within INEC to strengthen data management, voter registration, and results transmission, while preventing misuse of the technology.
On logistics, Prof. Amupitan said the Commission is scaling up to deploy about 1.4 million ad-hoc personnel across more than 176,000 polling units nationwide for the 2027 elections. Presidential and National Assembly elections hold on Saturday, January 16, 2027, while Governorship and House of Assembly elections are slated for February 6, 2027.
He noted that public campaigns for the 2027 polls officially began on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, and that INEC had joined political parties at the National Peace Committee’s signing of the first National Peace Accord on issue-based campaigning.
On electoral inclusion, the INEC boss listed five priorities for partners: consolidating the tech gains from Osun, deepening access for persons with disabilities, women and youth, strengthening institutional capacity, countering election misinformation, and delivering the planned mock accreditation.
Receiving the Canadian delegation, Prof. Amupitan commended Canada’s support for electoral governance, civic education and gender inclusion. Mr. Sproule in turn reaffirmed Canada’s readiness to support INEC, including in election observation.
In his meeting with KAS, the Chairman recalled joint work on political party regulations and retreats in Uyo and Lagos that aided Osun preparations. Mr. Sprenker said KAS, which has worked in Nigeria for over 25 years, remains committed to deepening partnership with INEC on civic education, electoral technology and peaceful elections.
Prof. Amupitan reassured Nigerians and the international community of INEC’s independence and neutrality as the Commission prepares for 2027.
