INEC Sets Nov 28 Mock Accreditation Ahead of 2027 Polls

In Short

INEC has scheduled a nationwide mock accreditation exercise for November 28, 2026.

The test is meant to check upgraded voter accreditation and electronic result transmission systems ahead of the 2027 general elections.

What Happened: How INEC Plans To Test BVAS And Result Uploads

Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will conduct a nationwide mock accreditation exercise to simulate a presidential election.

INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this at Chatham House in London during a high level dialogue organised in partnership with the Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI) on Nigeria’s 2027 elections and regional stability.

Amupitan said the exercise would verify that INEC has “gotten both accreditation and electronic result transmission right.”

He said INEC has procured additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices. BVAS is the device used to accredit, meaning confirm and record, voters at polling units.

Amupitan also said INEC reduced the maximum number of voters assigned to each BVAS machine from 1,250 to 850. Polling units with more than 850 registered voters will receive multiple devices.

INEC is also constructing climate controlled storage facilities across the states. Amupitan said this is to address concerns over BVAS malfunctions linked to extreme heat and storage conditions during the 2023 elections.

He added that INEC considered introducing an entirely new electoral technology for 2027, but chose to upgrade existing infrastructure due to limited time.

Why It Matters: Fewer BVAS Bottlenecks And Tighter Result Checks

Amupitan said INEC has introduced technical safeguards to prevent inaccurate election results and figures reflecting over voting from being uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal, IReV.

He said a post 2023 review found result management at collation centres was a major weakness. He also said there were instances in 2023 where inaccurate results, or results with over voting, were uploaded onto IReV.

According to Amupitan, INEC’s safeguard means “if a result is not accurate at the polling unit, it will not go to IReV at all.” He said the goal is to improve confidence in results displayed on the portal and make collation more transparent.