The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the African Union (AU) have strengthened their electoral partnership as Nigeria prepares for the 2027 general elections, with both sides discussing measures to improve the credibility and effectiveness of the electoral process.
The development followed a courtesy visit by an AU Pre-Election and Needs Assessment Mission to INEC, where the two institutions reviewed Nigeria’s preparations for the polls and identified areas requiring further technical cooperation.
The delegation was led by Demeke Mekonnen, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Head of the AU mission.
The mission is in Nigeria from September 13 to 19, 2026, as part of the AU’s assessment of the country’s electoral preparedness ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Receiving the delegation, INEC’s Acting Chairman, Professor Rhoda Gumus, who represented the Chairman of the Commission, Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, welcomed the engagement and described it as timely and significant to Nigeria’s democratic development.
Mekonnen said the mission was aimed at assessing Nigeria’s electoral preparations, identifying potential gaps and recommending measures that could support a successful election.
He said the AU was particularly interested in voter registration, electoral technology, logistics, funding, inclusion, transparency, electoral disputes, security and result management.
According to him, the pre-election phase remained critical to the success of the wider electoral process, particularly in ensuring credible voter registration, transparent procedures and public confidence.
“We want to facilitate support and identify gaps, and for possible remedies and corrections for the successful election process,” Mekonnen said.
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Gumus said Nigeria and the AU shared a commitment to democratic standards, institutional integrity and credible electoral governance, adding that INEC was preparing for the 2027 elections on an unprecedented scale.
She said the voter population was approaching 100 million, while the country had 176,846 polling units and an election workforce of more than 1.4 million personnel.
The Acting Chairman added that recent off-cycle elections had given the commission opportunities to test reforms under the new electoral legal framework and assess their effectiveness ahead of the general elections.
She highlighted INEC’s deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), result viewing through the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and inter-agency security coordination as some of the measures being used to strengthen election administration.
Gumus also disclosed that INEC was collaborating with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) through the Continuous Voter Registration Portal to audit, verify and clean the voters’ register ahead of the elections.
However, she acknowledged that Nigeria’s geographical size and complexity continued to pose technological, logistical and political challenges to electoral administration.
“Electoral integrity is a multi-sectoral endeavour, and international technical support remains vital to bridging operational gaps,” she said.
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Gumus identified digital training for ad-hoc staff, e-learning tools, ICT simulations and election-monitoring systems among the areas where AU technical support could strengthen the commission’s preparations.
She also sought support in tackling election-related disinformation, detecting AI-generated deepfakes and improving strategic communication during the electoral process.
On inclusion, the Acting Chairman called for stronger support for frameworks aimed at improving the participation of persons with disabilities, internally displaced persons, women and other underrepresented groups.
She assured the AU delegation of INEC’s transparency and cooperation as the mission engages with political parties, civil society organisations, security agencies, media executives and development partners.
Gumus further reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to independence, neutrality and professionalism, stressing that its administrative decisions would be guided by the law.
She said INEC would continue to work with relevant stakeholders to ensure that the outcome of the 2027 general elections reflects the sovereign will of Nigerian voters.
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