INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced a 100-day countdown to the 2027 General Election, announcing that the national register of voters has risen to 103 million following the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
With the above numbers, the commission disclosed that Lagos, Kano and Kaduna states recording the highest number of registered voters.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, disclosed this while addressing a world press conference and National Stakeholders Meeting in Abuja.
The INEC chairman said the Commission had completed nine of the 14 major statutory milestones contained in its revised timetable and schedule of activities issued on February 26, 2026.
He said the timetable had been translated into an operational execution plan covering INEC’s headquarters departments and directorates, all 36 states, the FCT and 774 Local Government Areas.
Amupitan said the Commission’s preparations were informed by lessons from recent off-cycle elections, including the governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun, the FCT Area Council elections and federal and state bye-elections.
He said the elections provided opportunities to test early deployment of personnel and sensitive materials, logistics arrangements and intelligence-led security operations.
INEC procures 57,000 new BVAS
The Commission disclosed that contracts had been awarded for the production of 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices, alongside additional voting cubicles and ballot boxes.
Some of the new BVAS devices have already been delivered, while nationwide delivery of operational vehicles is ongoing.
Amupitan said dedicated BVAS storage facilities and Local Government offices were also being constructed, while a contract had been awarded for solar power installations across INEC offices nationwide.
He added that upgrades to critical information and communications technology infrastructure were underway, while procurement of ballot papers and result sheets was nearing completion.
176,846 polling units targeted
The Commission said it was preparing for the deployment of personnel and materials to 176,846 polling units across 8,838 Registration Areas.
To address Nigeria’s difficult terrain, INEC said it had strengthened partnerships with transport unions and was mobilising more than 100,000 vehicles and 4,000 boats.
The logistics plan also includes speedboats, four-wheel-drive vehicles and other specialised transport for riverine, mountainous, desert and hard-to-reach locations.
Amupitan said sensitive materials would be moved from Central Bank of Nigeria vaults to Local Government Areas 72 hours before polling and would reach Registration Area Centres by 4pm on the eve of the elections.
According to him, the Register of Voters for the 2027 General Election is expected to be presented to political parties on December 15.
The INEC chairman said Lagos has the highest number of registered voters with 7,488,633, followed by Kano with 6,570,276 and Kaduna with 4,662,640.
Other states among the top 10 are Katsina, Rivers, Oyo, Delta, Benue, Ogun and Bauchi.
Ekiti has the lowest number of registered voters at 1,055,708, followed by Bayelsa with 1,200,691, while the Federal Capital Territory has 1,732,043.
The register comprises 53,528,218 male voters, representing 51.75 per cent, and 49,900,497 female voters, representing 48.25 per cent.
Amupitan also disclosed that 232,658 persons with disabilities are captured in the register.
The INEC chairman said the Commission had completed nine of the 14 major statutory milestones contained in its revised timetable and schedule of activities issued on February 26, 2026.
He said the timetable had been translated into an operational execution plan covering INEC’s headquarters departments and directorates, all 36 states, the FCT and 774 Local Government Areas.
Amupitan said the Commission’s preparations were informed by lessons from recent off-cycle elections, including the governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun, the FCT Area Council elections and federal and state bye-elections.
Also speaking, the Chairman inter party advisory Council Yusuf Dantalle appealed to the independent National Electoral Commission to live above board and provide a level playing field for all the twenty two registered political parties and their candidates.
He warned security agencies not to take sides with any candidate or political parties and allow the will of Nigerians to prevail.
Representatives of the European Union and other International communities emphasized the need for INEC to be transparent and conduct credible elections free of rancour and election malpractices.
They promised to work with the commission and deploy observers across the 774 local governments to monitor the general election.
