The African Union (AU) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide details of its level of preparedness for the 2027 general elections, particularly on voter registration, technology, logistics, funding, inclusivity and public confidence.
The AU made the enquiries when its Pre-Election and Needs Assessment Mission, led by former Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Demeke Mekonnen, paid a courtesy visit to the electoral commission in Abuja on Tuesday.
The mission, which is in Nigeria from September 13 to 19, 2026, said its objective was to assess the country’s electoral preparedness, identify potential gaps and recommend possible remedies ahead of the elections.
Mekonnen said INEC was one of the key stakeholders the delegation had prioritised because of its central role in the electoral process.
He said the mission was supportive rather than supervisory, adding that the AU delegation wanted to understand the commission’s preparations and identify areas where additional support might be required.
According to him, the minimum standards for an election should include credibility, transparency, fairness and inclusivity, with a level playing field for all political actors.
The former Ethiopian deputy prime minister said the delegation was particularly interested in INEC’s readiness across the pre-election, election and post-election phases.
He asked whether the voter register would be finalised in time and whether it would be credible and ready for scrutiny by stakeholders and the public.
Mekonnen also sought clarification on the commission’s preparedness to deploy technology, particularly the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), in light of lessons from previous elections.
He said the delegation was also interested in the logistical and operational challenges associated with conducting elections in a country as large and geographically diverse as Nigeria.
“From the election process, pre-election periods, the election periods, and the post-election cases are the important and sequential process of this. The pre-election period is the most important one,” he said.
The AU delegation also asked whether INEC had received adequate and timely funding for the 2027 elections, stressing that resources were essential to conducting credible, transparent and fair elections.
Mekonnen further sought information on measures being taken to promote inclusion, particularly the participation of youths, women and other groups in voter registration and the broader electoral process.
He said Nigeria’s growing youth population made their participation particularly important to the credibility of the democratic process.
The mission also raised concerns about transparency and public confidence, asking INEC what measures it was taking to strengthen accountability and trust among citizens and other stakeholders.
Responding, INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, represented by National Commissioner May Agbamuche-Mbu, welcomed the AU delegation and described the mission as an important peer-assessment mechanism ahead of the 2027 elections.
Agbamuche-Mbu said the commission was preparing for an unprecedented operational deployment involving a voter population approaching 100 million, 176,846 polling units and an ad-hoc workforce exceeding 1.4 million personnel.
She said INEC had used recent off-cycle elections in Anambra, the Federal Capital Territory, Ekiti and Osun as proving grounds for reforms under the Electoral Act 2026.
According to her, the August 15, 2026 Osun State governorship election provided a benchmark for administrative efficiency, with early-morning logistical opening rates exceeding 94 per cent.
She also cited the performance of the biometric voter accreditation system, results transmission through the IReV portal and inter-agency security coordination as areas where the commission recorded progress.
Agbamuche-Mbu said INEC was also collaborating with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to integrate national identification numbers into its Continuous Voter Registration process.
She explained that the initiative was designed to help audit, verify and clean the national voter register ahead of the 2027 elections.
“Nevertheless, conducting a national election across a country as vast and complex as Nigeria presents continuous technological, logistical, and political challenges,” she said.
The commission subsequently identified areas where it would welcome technical and institutional assistance from the AU.
These include digital training methodologies for more than 1.4 million election personnel, e-learning tools, digital simulation models and standardised ICT training protocols.
INEC also requested assistance on countering election disinformation, particularly the use of artificial intelligence to create deepfakes and coordinated fake-news campaigns.
Other areas highlighted included strengthening the Election Monitoring and Support Centre as an operational tracking, evaluation and early-warning mechanism, as well as capacity-building workshops.
The commission further sought assistance in strengthening electoral inclusion and gender-mainstreaming frameworks, including improved participation of persons with disabilities, internally displaced persons and other underrepresented groups.
Agbamuche-Mbu assured the AU delegation of INEC’s full cooperation as it engages political parties, civil society organisations, security agencies, media executives and development partners during its assessment.
She said the commission would provide the mission with relevant operational data to support its assessment report.
The INEC chairman, she added, remained committed to the independence, neutrality and professionalism of the commission, insisting that all administrative decisions would be guided by the law.
“Every technical deployment will serve transparency, and the final outcome of the 2027 general election will reflect nothing less than the sovereign will of the Nigerian electorate,” she said.
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