The Independent National Electoral Commission is considering conducting a comprehensive audit of its electoral technology systems and staging a mock presidential election as part of efforts to strengthen preparations for the 2027 general election.
INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan (SAN), disclosed this on Thursday while receiving the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr Richard Montgomery, during a courtesy visit to the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Amupitan said the proposals, which were being considered by the commission, were prompted by concerns arising from the 2023 general election, particularly over the reliability of election technology.
According to him, the commission is considering auditing all its electoral systems ahead of the 2027 polls and conducting a mock presidential election to test the readiness of its processes and technology before the actual elections.
He said, “The commission was looking at the possibility of auditing all its systems ahead of the 2027 election, as well as conducting a mock presidential election, to test the readiness of its processes and technology before the actual polls.”
The INEC chairman noted that the proposed exercises were not originally included in the commission’s budget but said INEC would explore ways of implementing them because of their potential to strengthen the credibility of the elections.
He explained that the proposals formed part of the commission’s broader efforts to improve technological reliability, including the continued deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the INEC Result Viewing Portal, alongside an ongoing review of its cyber-security architecture covering system redundancy, penetration testing and disaster recovery mechanisms.
