2027: INEC Completes ABIS Cleanup, Puts Voter Register Above 103m

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said Nigeria’s national register of voters now stands at over 103 million following the completion of the final Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) cleanup.

INEC Chairman, Mr Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Monday at a strategic workshop for editors organised by the commission in collaboration with the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE) in Abuja.

Mr Amupitan said the electoral body registered 10,772,421 persons during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise conducted between August 25, 2025 and July 26, 2026.

He said registrants were subjected to ABIS verification, after which the figure was reduced to over 10.6 million new applicants.

The INEC chairman said the agency introduced its Online Registration Portal during the third phase of the CVR exercise to eliminate barriers associated with distance and time.

He added that INEC also introduced printable Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), in line with Section 18(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, to eliminate the long waiting period for physical cards.

Mr Amupitan said collection of PVCs for new registrants would commence on Friday, October 9, 2026.

He said INEC had completed the processing and distribution of Phase 1 PVCs to all local government centres, urging the Nigeria Guild of Editors to use its platforms to inform citizens about collection locations and encourage registered voters to collect their cards promptly.

The INEC chairman described electoral trust as a “precious public currency” that is earned through consistent, verifiable performance and transparency.

He expressed concern that institutional trust could be eroded by unverified rumours, operational misinterpretations and deliberate disinformation, particularly amid intense political competition and fragmented media channels.

Mr Amupitan urged editors to prioritise factual accuracy over sensational headlines and provide proper context when reporting electoral issues.

He also warned political parties, candidates and campaign managers against violence, intimidation and inflammatory rhetoric ahead of the 2027 general election.

He said INEC, through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), had activated an early-warning tracking framework to monitor incidents of political violence, thuggery and dangerous campaign rhetoric.

According to him, political parties or candidates implicated in inciting violence, disrupting rallies or deploying armed thugs would face statutory sanctions and prosecution.

The INEC chairman further disclosed that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices had undergone software hardening, battery optimisation and biometric calibration to prevent accreditation bypass and manual manipulation.

He said the commission had acquired 57,000 new BVAS devices for the 2027 general election.

Mr Amupitan added that the eEC8A System and Result Transparency platform, which was deployed in recent off-cycle elections, would also be used in the 2027 general election.

He said the system would enable polling unit result sheets to be digitised, cryptographically authenticated and uploaded directly from polling units to the public viewing portal known as IReV.