The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says all sensitive materials for the 2027 general elections, including ballot papers and result sheets, will be printed locally.
This is according to INEC National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna, who spoke with Punch on the commission’s preparations for the polls.
Haruna said the commission had inspected local printing companies and was satisfied with their capacity and security arrangements to handle production of the sensitive materials. He explained that ballot papers and result sheets are printed close to election day because of how sensitive they are, after which they are moved to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for safekeeping and distribution.
“Everything is going to be printed locally. Sensitive materials, for us, are ballot papers and the result sheets, and we don’t print those ones early because they are sensitive,” he said. “So, it’s fairly close to the election that we print and deliver them to CBN, and from there, they are normally collected and distributed in the presence of everybody, including civil society organisations, media, party agents.”
According to him, INEC has already begun procuring non-sensitive materials such as ballot boxes, alongside placing orders for critical equipment including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines. Banners are also being produced to cover anticipated shortfalls.
“Ballot papers are already set to be printed by local printers. We have local printers that are up to the capacity,” he said.
Haruna, however, identified the shortened electoral timetable as one of the major challenges facing the commission’s preparations, noting that a recent amendment to the electoral law cut the planning window from one year to six months.
“The problem is time,” he said. “Last time, we got the money for the election in sufficient time, so we had sufficient time to plan. It is a little bit tighter this time around. You know very well the electoral law cut it down by six months. Instead of one year, now it’s six months.”
He added that the commission had received part of the funds needed for the elections and was in the process of selecting printers for the various contracts, while dismissing concerns over the security capacity of local printers.
“The last general election was a precedent. Did you hear any complaints? We didn’t have any issue with the printers,” he said.
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