The commission also called on the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) and the wider media industry to support efforts to strengthen democracy through responsible journalism, voter education and accurate reporting ahead of the elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, gave the assurance on Thursday while delivering the keynote address at the 10th annual conference of GOCOP in Ikeja, Lagos. The conference was themed ‘2027 Elections: Trust, Transparency and Shared Responsibilities’.
Represented by the Lagos State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Ayobami Salami, Amupitan said the commission had no preferred candidate or political party and would not pursue any institutional interest at the expense of voters’ wishes.
“Let me tell you, on behalf of the commission, that in the 2027 election, by the grace of God, what will determine the winner would be the votes of Nigerians, and the will of Nigerians will prevail,” he said.
He maintained that the success of the elections would depend not only on the deployment of personnel and electoral materials but also on the transparency of the process, the credibility of the results and the commitment of stakeholders to protecting the integrity of the ballot.
“Under my leadership, the Independent National Electoral Commission stands firm on an unshakeable promise: our sole allegiance is to the Constitution and the law, and our absolute obligation is to the Nigerian people,” he said.
Amupitan urged online publishers to play an active role in ensuring the success of the elections, noting that the media’s information infrastructure would be critical to public confidence in the electoral process.
He warned that election periods were increasingly vulnerable to coordinated disinformation campaigns, narratives promoting political violence, synthetic media and artificial intelligence-generated deepfakes designed to inflame tensions and undermine public trust in institutions.
He therefore urged journalists and publishers to combat misinformation, resist the pressure to prioritise clicks over accuracy and uphold their responsibility as custodians of credible information.
According to him, fake news, unverified leaks and sensational reporting could undermine public confidence, trigger unrest and discourage citizens from participating in elections.
He cautioned that publishing unverified allegations of electoral fraud could cause lasting damage to public trust, even when subsequent corrections or fact-checks were issued.
On the pressure to break news ahead of competitors, the INEC chairman said accuracy should take precedence over speed.
“Being first with a false story is a costly failure; being accurate with a verified fact is a public service,” he said.
He added that online publishers should provide context and seek official clarification when operational challenges arise during elections rather than presenting isolated logistical setbacks as evidence of a systemic failure.
With nationwide collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) scheduled to commence on Friday, 9 October 2026, Amupitan called on media organisations to educate voters and encourage eligible citizens to collect their cards.
He also outlined measures taken by the commission to strengthen its operational, technological and logistical capacity ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to him, INEC has undertaken structural, technological and logistical reforms over the past 14 months to improve preparedness for the polls.
Among the measures was the release of a revised timetable and schedule of activities for the 2027 general elections on 26 February 2026. He also disclosed that the commission was expanding its grassroots operations across more than 176,000 polling units nationwide.
Amupitan said INEC had conducted a three-phase Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in line with Section 10 of the Electoral Act 2026.
Following the completion of voter registration, he said the commission had concluded the public display of the preliminary register across registration areas to allow citizens to make claims and raise objections.
He added that the commission’s Information and Communication Technology Department was finalising the official register of voters for nationwide display while synchronising registration data through its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) to detect and eliminate duplicate registrations.
According to him, Nigeria’s national register of voters had reached 103 million registered citizens.
He said the commission had also completed the processing and printing of new voter cards using its newly introduced printable PVC technology, with collection scheduled to begin nationwide on Friday.
The INEC chairman urged GOCOP members to use their platforms to inform registered voters in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory about collection procedures and designated collection centres at local government offices and registration area centres.
On electoral technology, Amupitan said the commission had upgraded its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) through hardware optimisation, battery calibration and software improvements to strengthen voter accreditation and prevent impersonation.
He disclosed that INEC had begun a nationwide audit of BVAS devices to confirm their operational readiness and had procured additional units based on its requirements.
The commission was also strengthening its electronic results-transmission process through an enhanced eEC8A protocol, which, he said, enables polling-unit result sheets to be digitised immediately after counting and transmitted to the public results portal.
According to Amupitan, the system uses cryptographic signatures to protect scanned result sheets and improve transparency, reducing opportunities for manual alteration at intermediate collation stages.
He further disclosed that INEC had entered into strategic partnerships with technology companies, including Google and Microsoft, to deploy artificial intelligence-based data-auditing tools and security systems to protect its databases against cyberattacks, distributed denial-of-service attacks and unauthorised data manipulation.
On election logistics, he said the commission had commenced the procurement and delivery of non-sensitive electoral materials to its offices across the 36 states and the FCT.
He added that a central operations schedule had been introduced to monitor the movement of materials, storage security and vehicle locations in real time across state command centres.
Amupitan also said INEC had operationalised the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure (CEMBSS) and intensified public enlightenment campaigns through traditional, digital and grassroots communication channels.
He explained that the voter education programme would focus on voting procedures, accreditation requirements, BVAS operations, PVC collection and election-day regulations, with tailored outreach to promote the inclusion of different groups of voters.
He urged media organisations, political actors, civil society groups and other stakeholders to work with the commission to safeguard the electoral process, stressing that public trust and credible elections required shared responsibility.
The commission’s appeal comes as preparations intensify for the 2027 general elections, with voter mobilisation, technological readiness, election security and the integrity of information expected to remain central to public confidence in the polls.
