2027: INEC vows to eliminate technical glitches, promises near-perfect electronic results transmission

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, has assured Nigerians of the commission’s commitment to preventing a recurrence of the technical failures that marred the electronic transmission of results during the 2023 general elections.

Speaking on Sunday at the Citizens’ Townhall on the Electoral Act 2026 in Abuja, Amupitan stated that INEC is intensifying preparations to ensure a seamless process in 2027. He expressed confidence that lessons learned from past challenges would translate into a more robust and reliable system.

“The glitch is eliminated; by God’s grace, it will not surface in Nigeria,” Amupitan said, acknowledging delays in previous elections but insisting that outright transmission failure was not recorded in other off-cycle polls.

He clarified that legal provisions permitting alternative collation methods are merely precautionary and do not reflect an expectation of failure. “It is just a proviso, a safety. If it fails, results must still be transmitted. But our determination is that it will not fail,” he added.

Reflecting on the 2023 presidential election, Amupitan admitted that while the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) performed well in smaller elections, it was not sufficiently stress-tested for a nationwide poll. To address this, INEC plans to conduct a comprehensive mock presidential exercise ahead of the 2027 elections to evaluate the capacity of its result-transmission infrastructure.

The INEC chairman acknowledged that while perfection remains a challenge, significant progress is attainable. He noted that network reliability—not the technology itself—continues to pose the greatest operational hurdle.

“We will try to give Nigerians a near-perfect election,” Amupitan said, describing credible polls as “the lifeblood of democracy.”

The push for reform follows widespread criticism of INEC’s failure to upload polling-unit results in real time during the 2023 presidential election, which led to allegations of manipulation and legal battles. Although the Supreme Court dismissed the challenges, the incident prompted amendments to the Electoral Act in 2026, introducing a hybrid model that permits electronic transmission but retains manual result sheets as a legal fallback.

Civil society groups, including Yiaga Africa, and opposition figures like Peter Obi have expressed concern that the revised framework may weaken transparency by removing strict real-time upload requirements. However, INEC maintains that enhanced testing, logistical planning, and legal safeguards will restore public confidence and deliver one of Nigeria’s most credible elections to date.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled:  Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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