The Independent National Electoral Commission has introduced a real-time tracking system to monitor the movement of election materials and other preparations ahead of the January 16 and February 6, 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Monday at a workshop for Administrative Secretaries from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in Lagos.
Amupitan described the innovation as a “real-time readiness tracker” designed to provide simultaneous visibility into election preparations across the country.
He said the system would enable Resident Electoral Commissioners, Supervising National Commissioners, the Secretary to the Commission and its headquarters to monitor the distribution of materials, training of ad-hoc staff and overall state-level readiness.
According to him, the initiative would replace “reactive panic with proactive management” and provide a permanent operational blueprint for future elections.
Amupitan said the Commission was building on improvements recorded during recent off-cycle elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states, as well as National Assembly, state assembly and FCT council elections.
He warned electoral officers against result manipulation, administrative interference and other infractions, stressing that staff found compromising the electoral process would face consequences.
The chairman identified logistics and materials management, Continuous Voter Registration, electoral technology, ad-hoc staff optimisation and financial compliance as key operational areas being reviewed ahead of the elections.
He disclosed that the CVR conducted in three phases between August 2025 and July 2026 produced 10,772,421 new registrants, subject to Automated Biometric Identification System verification.
Amupitan added that INEC introduced an online registration portal during the third phase of the exercise and deployed a printable Permanent Voter’s Card technology during the Osun election. He said the national register was approaching 100 million voters and assured that eligible Nigerians would not be disenfranchised because of PVC distribution challenges.
The INEC chairman also said the Commission was refining its result management systems, including the eEC8A, to strengthen the verification of results from polling units to the national collation centre.
He identified voter apathy, declining public trust and misinformation and disinformation as major challenges, but said competent and disciplined field personnel remained the Commission’s strongest defence against false narratives.
The Commission also plans to introduce a standardised Excel-based Administrative Secretary Master Operational Tracker linked to its Election Monitoring and Support Centre dashboard and Election Project Plan.
Secretary to the Commission, Mrs Rose Oriaran-Anthony, said the workshop would ensure that national and state offices worked with the same Election Project Plan. She added that state delegations would leave with logistics risk registers, ad-hoc recruitment and deployment plans, and stakeholder engagement plans.
Amupitan also disclosed that a new Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure took effect from January 1, while overhead allocations to state offices increased by 150 per cent from July 1.