The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun developing its Election Project Plan (EPP) for the 2027 general elections, aiming to improve efficiency and credibility by incorporating lessons learned from the 2023 polls.
A senior INEC official, speaking to Saturday PUNCH, explained that the new election framework is designed to address past logistical shortcomings and enhance technical processes to ensure smooth electoral operations in 2027.
Additionally, INEC is working on its 2027-2031 Strategic Plan, which will replace the current 2022-2026 framework set to expire in December 2026.
“An important aspect of the current effort is the preparation of another critical document that will act as a bridge between 2026 and 2027—the general election year—which the current 2022-2026 plan does not cover. This document will provide the foundation for the 2027 EPP, ensuring continuity and seamless transition into the next election cycle,” the official stated.
While the 2022-2026 Strategic Plan focused on improving institutional processes, capacity building, professionalism, departmental synergy, and resource management, the upcoming EPP will be more comprehensive and targeted at addressing challenges identified in previous elections.
Investigations revealed that INEC first introduced the EPP for the 2015 general elections and has continued to use it for the 2019 and 2023 elections. However, after experiencing logistical and technical issues in 2023, the commission is refining its processes to ensure a smoother voting process in 2027.
“We are updating our election templates to improve efficiency and reliability. The lessons from 2023 are shaping our approach to 2027,” the official added.
The 2023 general elections involved 93,469,008 registered voters across 176,846 polling units and required a vast logistical operation. Over 1.5 million electoral personnel, including polling staff, supervisors, and security officials, alongside 182,491 vehicles, were deployed across Nigeria’s diverse terrains.
Despite these efforts, INEC faced logistical and technical challenges, particularly with uploading presidential election results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal. While results for the National Assembly elections were successfully uploaded, technical glitches delayed the upload of presidential results.
A post-election review identified a configuration error as the cause. The system struggled to map the presidential results, which were national in scope, compared to the state-specific format of other elections.
INEC later resolved the issue through a software update and successfully uploaded the first presidential election result sheet later on election day.
