With six months to the 2027 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured Nigerians that the technical challenges which affected the electronic transmission of results during the 2023 presidential election have been resolved, even as civil society organisations (CSOs) raised concerns over gaps in the country’s electronic results management system.
At a policy roundtable on electronic transmission and collation of election results in Abuja, INEC said it had strengthened its technology and operational processes to deliver free, fair and credible elections. However, Yiaga Africa urged the commission to improve transparency by publishing ward- and local government-level election results on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal, alongside polling unit results.
Presenting a policy brief, Yiaga Africa Executive Director, Samson Itodo, said while the Electoral Act 2026 mandates electronic transmission of polling unit results, the commission’s backend validation process remains unclear to the public. He argued that only polling unit results (Form EC8A) are currently accessible on IReV, while ward (EC8B) and local government (EC8C) collation results remain unavailable, limiting independent verification of the collation process.
The organisation also raised concerns over the existence of three versions of election results—the physical result sheet, the scanned copy uploaded to IReV and the electronically transmitted record—without a clearly established legal hierarchy where discrepancies occur.
To strengthen public confidence ahead of the Osun governorship election and the 2027 general elections, Yiaga Africa recommended that INEC publish a detailed protocol explaining its result transmission process, disclose the purpose and duration of its validation process, upload ward and local government collation results, publish accreditation figures alongside polling unit results and conduct publicly observable mock election exercises.
Responding, INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr. Lawrence Bayode, rejected claims that the validation process lacks transparency. He explained that results are completed and verified at polling units before electronic transmission, with the system automatically checking accreditation figures against votes cast and using geospatial validation to prevent uploads from unauthorised locations.
Bayode maintained that while transparency is important, INEC cannot publicly disclose every aspect of its technological architecture because of security concerns.
Representing the INEC Chairman, National Commissioner Prof. Abdullahi Zuru said lessons from the 2023 general elections had informed major improvements in the commission’s operations. He noted that subsequent governorship, by-elections and FCT elections have demonstrated significant progress and revealed that INEC is considering conducting mock election exercises earlier in the electoral cycle.
Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Dr. Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, commended INEC for deploying the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the IReV portal but urged the commission to ensure that the shortcomings experienced during the 2023 presidential election do not recur.
Separately, INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, called for further amendments to the Electoral Act to ensure internal disputes within political parties are resolved at least one year before general elections. Speaking at the launch of a book in Abuja, he said the law should also provide clearer timelines for candidate uploads, procurement of election materials and testing of electoral equipment to improve election management.
Amupitan assured Nigerians that despite existing challenges, the commission remains committed to delivering credible, inclusive and transparent elections in 2027. He added that INEC has resolved that collation issues should be settled at polling units before results proceed through the electoral process.
Also on Thursday, a coalition of civil society organisations launched the Independent Election Results Platform (IERP), a citizen-driven platform that allows voters to upload and independently verify polling unit results. Unveiled in Abuja by the National Electoral Accountability Consortium, the platform is aimed at improving transparency, curbing result manipulation and strengthening public confidence in elections.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) endorsed the initiative, describing credible elections as essential to protecting citizens’ civil and political rights. Executive Director of TAP Initiative, Martin Obono, said the platform was created to empower citizens to actively participate in election monitoring while reducing concerns over technical failures and political interference.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), represented by Sylvanus Yekpe on behalf of National Chairman Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, also welcomed the initiative and reaffirmed the party’s support for efforts that promote transparency and peaceful elections.
On voter registration, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, appealed to INEC to extend the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise beyond the July 26 deadline. Obi argued that many Nigerians become eligible to vote every day upon attaining the age of 18 and should not be denied the opportunity to register. He cited a 2022 Federal High Court judgment which held that voter registration should continue until 90 days before a general election.
While acknowledging INEC’s need for adequate preparation time, Obi urged the commission to prioritise broader participation, insisting that no eligible Nigerian, especially young people, should be disenfranchised.
Meanwhile, INEC disclosed that 2,970,957 Nigerians had successfully completed Phase III of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise as of July 17, 2026. Of the total, 970,865 completed online registration while 2,000,092 registered physically.
Lagos recorded the highest number of completed registrations with 140,546, followed closely by Edo (139,313), Kano (134,305), Delta (132,330), Taraba (113,409), Ebonyi (111,344) and Sokoto (109,076). Female voters accounted for 52.57 per cent of the registrations, while young people aged 18 to 34 represented more than two-thirds of all registrants.
The commission also urged Nigerians who have relocated to transfer their voter registration to their new locations before the July 26 deadline, stressing that existing voters should apply for a transfer rather than undertake fresh registration.
