The Independent National Electoral Commission has commenced the final 100-day countdown to the 2027 general elections, with Lagos State recording the highest number of registered voters in the country.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja while briefing journalists and stakeholders on preparations for the elections scheduled for January 16 and February 6, 2027.
Amupitan said the national voter register now stands at 103,428,715, with Lagos leading with 7,488,633 voters. Kano follows with 6,570,276, while Kaduna has 4,662,640.
The North-West geopolitical zone has the largest voter population with 25,083,411 registered voters, followed by the South-West with 19,614,274 and North-Central with 16,965,787. The South-East has the lowest with 11,976,218 voters.
Amupitan said 9 of the 14 major milestones in INEC’s revised election timetable had been completed.
The commission said the register would be displayed for public scrutiny from October 9 to 15, 2026, while Phase 1 Permanent Voter Cards will also begin distribution to local government centres from October 9.
INEC deploys 57,000 BVAS
INEC said it would deploy 57,000 newly procured Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices for the 2027 elections.
The commission will also conduct nationwide audits and stress tests of its election technology before a mock accreditation exercise scheduled for November.
Amupitan said INEC had established an Artificial Intelligence Division within its ICT Department to detect anomalies in election results and tackle disinformation.
He warned that generative AI, voice cloning and deepfake videos could be used to fabricate election officials’ voices, result sheets and other official documents.
The commission said AI tools would be used with mandatory human oversight and urged journalists to verify election-related information before publication.
1.4m ad hoc staff
INEC also plans to recruit 1,414,768 ad hoc personnel for the two phases of the election.
According to Amupitan, 707,384 personnel will be deployed for the presidential and National Assembly elections on January 16, while the same number will be required for the governorship and State House of Assembly elections on February 6.
The personnel will be deployed across 176,846 polling units nationwide.
Police, EU pledge support
The Nigeria Police Force said it was strengthening security arrangements ahead of the elections, including operations in areas facing security challenges.
The European Union also pledged continued support for Nigeria’s electoral process and said it would deploy an electoral observation mission for the 2027 polls.
EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, urged political parties, candidates, security agencies, the media and civil society groups to work towards peaceful and credible elections.
INEC reviews Supreme Court ruling
INEC also said it was reviewing the Supreme Court’s September 24 judgment in its dispute with the Zenith Labour Party over provisions of the Electoral Act 2026.
The Supreme Court had restored Sections 77(5)-(7) and 84(2) of the Act after setting aside the Court of Appeal’s decision that had declared the provisions unconstitutional.
Amupitan said the commission had only received the certified true copy of the judgment and was reviewing its implications for the 2027 election timetable.
With 100 days to the first phase of the elections, INEC said its remaining priorities include completing outstanding milestones, testing election technology, training personnel, strengthening security coordination and subjecting the voter register to public scrutiny.
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