By George Mgbeleke

Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has said the number of registered voters ahead of the 2027 general elections has risen to more than 103 million, following the completion of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
Amupitan disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at a strategic workshop with media executives organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in collaboration with the commission.
The workshop has the theme: “Strengthening Democracy Through Partnership Among Editors, Civil Society and Electoral Institutions.”
Amupitan said the commission had so far completed eight of the 14 major statutory activities contained in its timetable for the elections, describing the preparations as having entered the amber zone as the countdown intensifies.
He said the three-phase CVR exercise attracted 10,772,421 new registrants, comprising 2,611,266 in the first phase, 4,121,835 in the second and 3,867,997 in the third phase, subject to final verification.
The chairman said the commission had completed the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) cleanup, adding that the preliminary display of the register for claims and objections had been scheduled for 9-15 October 2026.
The INEC chairman said: “As you are aware, and in line with Section 10 of the Electoral Act 2026, the first Phase of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) commenced on 25th August 2025 and ended on 10th December 2025, registering a total of 2,611,266 voters; Phase II commenced on 5th January 2026 and ended on 17th April 2026, registering 4,121 ,835 voters; and Phase Ill commenced on 11th May 2026 and ended on 26th July 2026, registering 3,867,997 voters.
“The total new registration stands at 10,772,421, subject to the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) verification currently being concluded.
“In the third phase, we introduced the Online Registration Portal technology to eliminate barriers of distance and time. Furthermore, we introduced printable PVC technology in line with Section 18(1) of the Electoral Act 2026 to ensure that waiting for months for a card becomes a relic of the past.
“Following the conclusion of our three-phase Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, which captured over 10.6 million new applicants, our Voter Register Department has completed the final Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) cleanup. Nigeria’s National Register of Voters is now over 103 million.”
He announced that nationwide collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) would commence on Friday, October 9, with newly produced cards distributed to Local Government Area collection centres.
According to him, the commission has also deployed a new printable PVC technology, designed to reduce the lengthy waiting period associated with the production and collection of voters’ cards.
Amupitan said technology was part of measures to ensure that eligible voters were not disenfranchised, particularly in cases involving lost or stolen cards.
He said the commission had also strengthened its technological infrastructure ahead of the elections, including the acquisition of 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines.
Noting that the commission had deliberately improved existing electoral technologies rather than introduce untested systems shortly before the 2027 elections, he said the upgraded BVAS, enhanced electronic result management system and other technologies were being deployed to ensure that every valid vote counted and was seen to count.
Amupitan said the commission had also introduced an enhanced eEC8A form, designed to digitise and cryptographically authenticate polling-unit results before their upload to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
He added that INEC was deploying artificial intelligence-driven systems to detect anomalies in database traffic and strengthen cybersecurity around the electoral process.
On vote-buying and illegal campaign financing, Amupitan said INEC was working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to monitor campaign spending.
He said a joint financial monitoring mechanism would track suspicious and illegal campaign expenditure, while surveillance would be strengthened around polling units.
The chairman warned politicians and their agents that violations of the Electoral Act would attract arrest and prosecution.
“Elections must be decided by the conviction of the voter, not the depth of a candidate’s pocket,” he said.
Amupitan expressed concern over the growing use of social media to circulate false information capable of undermining elections, describing malicious disinformation as “citizenship terrorism through social media.”
He urged editors and journalists to verify information before publication, warning that false reports could suppress voter turnout, create panic and ultimately delegitimise otherwise credible elections.
He recalled instances in which old photographs, manipulated images and fabricated reports had been circulated as current election-related events.
According to him, one false report during the Federal Capital Territory elections claimed that members of the National Youth Service Corps had been killed, allegedly creating the impression that Abuja was engulfed in violence.
He said investigations subsequently established that the report was false.
The chairman appealed to newsrooms to take a second, a minute to verify information before publishing, stressing that sensationalism should not be allowed to undermine the electoral process.
He said INEC was particularly concerned about deepfakes, manipulated audio-visual materials, coordinated fake news and premature declaration of unofficial results.
Amupitan warned against electoral violence, saying no political ambition was worth the loss of Nigerian lives.
He said INEC’s early-warning mechanism under the Inter-Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) was monitoring political violence, thuggery and inflammatory rhetoric ahead of the polls.
The chairman said the commission was also strengthening its logistics and field operations, noting that readiness audits had been completed in the South-West and North-West geopolitical zones, with the remaining zones to follow.
He said the audits covered state offices, storage facilities, security protocols and logistics, while early procurement and distribution of non-sensitive materials had commenced.
On electoral personnel, he said all electoral officers and temporary staff would be required to take an oath of neutrality under Section 26 of the Electoral Act 2026.
He warned that the commission would maintain zero tolerance for partisanship, negligence and compromised ethical conduct by its personnel.
The chairman said the credibility of the 2027 elections would depend not only on what happens at polling units but also on how information about the process is generated, verified and disseminated.
He described the relationship among INEC, the media and civil society as critical to public confidence in the elections.
According to him, INEC must provide a transparent and technology-driven electoral process, the media must properly interpret and disseminate electoral information, while civil society organisations should provide external scrutiny and promote inclusion and accountability.
Earlier, President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr Eze Anaba, had called for a credible and transparent electoral process that would ensure voters, rather than the courts, determine the outcome of elections.
He said elections were not merely about casting ballots but about building citizens’ confidence that their votes would count and that institutions responsible for conducting elections would act fairly and professionally.
Anaba expressed concern over the growing reliance on the courts to resolve disputes arising from elections, saying the electoral process should be strong enough to reflect the choices of voters.
He said: “Elections are not merely about casting ballots. They are about trust. They are about citizens believing that their votes will count, that the process will be transparent, and the institutions responsible for conducting elections will act fairly and professionally.”
He added that democracy could not grow without a strong electoral body and a process that was not only fair and transparent but also seen by citizens to be so.
INEC National Commissioner, Mohammed Haruna, said the workshop was particularly important because the commission had conducted several off-cycle and bye-elections since Amupitan assumed office.
He listed the Anambra governorship election, the Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections, the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections and a number of legislative bye-elections among the polls conducted under the present commission.
Haruna said INEC had also monitored the primaries of all 22 registered political parties participating in the 2027 process, including processes arising from court-ordered creation of new state constituencies.
Executive Director of the Centre for Media and Society, Akin Akingbulu, called for stronger verification mechanisms in newsrooms and greater transparency from INEC.
Akingbulu said verification was a two-way process, arguing that newsrooms could not properly verify information that institutions failed to disclose.
Akingbulu warned against deepfakes, fabricated campaign materials and other forms of manipulated content, saying such developments could undermine public confidence in the electoral process.
The Executive Director of the International Press Centre, Lanre Arogundade, stressed the importance of timely and transparent communication from INEC.
Arogundade said information gaps created opportunities for speculation, while silence could leave a vacuum that false information would quickly occupy.
He called for a healthy relationship between INEC and the media based on access, transparency and mutual responsibility, without compromising editorial independence or the media’s watchdog role.
Giving the objectives of the workshop, Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Adedayo Oketola, said editors were the chief gatekeepers of electoral information and that direct engagement with newsrooms had become a core priority for the commission.
Oketola said the workshop was aimed at rebuilding institutional trust through open dialogue, combating information disorder through fact verification and promoting shared responsibility for credible elections.
In her goodwill message, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity at INEC, Mrs Victoria Eta-Messi, said the engagement would help align media leadership with the Commission’s operational roadmap. “We’re in the eye of the storm a lot of the times these days, and so it’s important that we are on the same page,” she said.
She added that disinformation and misinformation were not helping efforts to raise citizen participation, and asked editors to share timely and accurate information.