With the 2027 general elections approaching, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is preparing to test its electoral technology and operational readiness through a nationwide mock accreditation and voting exercise scheduled for November 28, 2026.
The exercise will be particularly important because it will test the commission’s upgraded electoral technology and new safeguards following the controversies surrounding the 2023 elections.
Here are 7 key areas to watch during this exercise:
1. BVAS Efficiency:
One major area to watch closely is if the newly upgraded Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) will work efficiently.
The commission has reportedly reduced the maximum number of registered voters assigned to each BVAS device from 1,250 to 850. Polling units with more registered voters will receive additional devices.
Therefore, it would be important to look out for how quickly voters are accredited, whether the device experiences network issues, and if the additional devices reduce queues and delays.
2. Electronic Transmission Of Results
This is one of the most significant areas of the exercise. During the 2023 presidential election, there was a controversy over delayed upload of results from polling units to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
INEC has however confirmed that new technical safeguards have been introduced in the upcoming 2027 elections to prevent inaccurate results and figures indicating over-voting from being uploaded.
It would be important to monitor if the results are transmitted without delay, whether the results accurately reflect the polling unit results and how well the system would handle simultaneous uploads from multiple polling units.
3. IReV Portal Reliability
Nigerians would also be interested in whether the IReV portal can handle the pressure of election delay beyond just transmitting results.
The mock exercise should provide an opportunity to assess whether INEC has addressed those weaknesses.
Therefore, key areas to watch would be portal accessibility, speed of uploading polling unit result sheets, clarity of uploaded result forms, and consistency between physical result sheets and online records.
4. New Safeguards Against Over-Voting
INEC says its upgraded system will prevent polling unit results containing inaccuracies or figures indicating over-voting from appearing on IReV.
This is important because discrepancies between figures recorded at polling units and those presented during collation have historically undermined confidence in election results.
Detection of over-voting, prevention of inaccurate result uploads, procedures for correcting rejected results, and transparency of the verification process would be key areas to watch.
5. Logistics And Timely Opening Of polling Units
Because technology alone cannot guarantee a credible election, INEC has identified logistics as one of its major priorities ahead of 2027 to make sure electoral officials and materials arrive on time.
The mock exercise should provide insight into the commission’s ability to coordinate personnel, equipment and other election materials.
It would be important to monitor how early electoral officials would arrive, the availability of voting materials, distribution of functional BVAS devices and coordination across polling units.
6. Security
Election security remains another major concern, particularly in areas affected by insecurity and political violence.
The exercise should help identify operational weaknesses in coordination between INEC officials and security agencies.
Therefore, protection of voters and election officials, Prevention of electoral violence security of election materials and response to disruptions would be important areas to focus on.
7. Transparency
Ultimately, the exercise is also a test of public confidence in INEC.
The controversies surrounding the 2023 elections created significant concerns about the credibility of the electoral process.
INEC’s ability to demonstrate that its technology works, results are accurately transmitted and electoral procedures are followed will be critical to rebuilding public trust.
It would be important to see whether political parties, observers, journalists and other stakeholders can independently verify the exercise’s outcomes.
The November 28 exercise will offer an important opportunity to assess whether INEC’s technological upgrades and operational reforms can address longstanding electoral challenges.
Beyond demonstrating that its equipment works, the commission will need to show that the entire electoral process can deliver credible, transparent and verifiable results.