The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the days of ballot box snatching and manual result manipulation are over, citing new technological safeguards ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, gave the assurance on Wednesday in Abuja while receiving the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Lanre Issa-Onilu, who paid him a courtesy visit at the commission’s headquarters.
Amupitan noted that with the presidential election set for January 16, 2027 and governorship polls for February 6, 2027, INEC must begin voter education immediately, warning that apathy and disinformation remain major threats to credible elections.
He said current legal and technological safeguards now protect voters’ choices, adding that INEC must explain to rural farmers, market women, and young voters alike that ballot snatching and manual result alteration are things of the past.
Reviewing the FCT Area Council election in February and the Ekiti governorship election in June, Amupitan pointed to over 90 percent early polling unit opening, biometric verification through the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), and fast result uploads to the IReV portal as major gains. However, he admitted both elections also revealed low voter turnout and confusion over polling unit changes and registration transfers — a sign, he said, that public understanding of the electoral process is lagging behind the technology.
He stressed that sophisticated equipment means little without an informed electorate, and called for a joint, grassroots voter education campaign with NOA that tackles vote-buying and misinformation, urging that NOA field officers be armed with accurate knowledge of INEC’s processes to serve as community ambassadors.
Amupitan pledged INEC’s full support for the partnership, saying the commission was ready to share data and resources with NOA.
In his remarks, Issa-Onilu lamented that voter turnout remains low relative to the number of registered voters, and said NOA would intensify community-level advocacy — including helping Nigerians track court cases connected to elections beyond voting day.
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