The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, will conduct a six-day nationwide stress test of configured Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, devices from October 23 to 28 ahead of the 2027 General Elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, at a World News Conference and National Stakeholders’ Meeting organized in Abuja to mark 100 days to the 2027 general election, said the exercise formed part of INEC’s quality assurance framework to assess the hardware, software and operational stability of upgraded BVAS devices under simulated election conditions.
He said the commission had acquired 57,000 new BVAS units as part of efforts to improve technology deployment across the country’s 176,846 polling units.
The INEC chairman said the devices had undergone software hardening, battery optimisation and biometric calibration to prevent manual manipulation and accreditation bypass.
He said a nationwide BVAS inventory audit, including activation testing and GPS tracking verification, had been completed, while state-level configuration and enrolment on the SureMDM platform would soon begin.
Amupitan said state-level training for Registration Area Technical Support personnel would take place in November 2026, followed by a strategic briefing on Dec. 13.
He added that Local Government Area readiness audits would hold on Jan. 13 and 14, 2027.
The INEC chairman also disclosed that automated AI auditing tools were being integrated into the commission’s results verification process under a five-pillar AI Governance Framework with mandatory human oversight.
He said INEC was finalising its AI Governance Framework and Policy while working with international technology leaders to integrate AI-driven anomaly detection tools.
The tools, he said, would monitor database traffic and protect public portals from cyber intrusions and unauthorised alterations.
Amupitan added that INEC would conduct a nationwide mock accreditation and election simulation in November 2026 to test its hardware, field personnel and network protocols.
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On logistics, he said the commission had reviewed a Memorandum of Understanding with key transport unions, including the National Union of Road Transport Workers.
The framework would support the early pooling, vetting and mobilisation of more than 100,000 vehicles and 4,000 boats for the movement of personnel and election materials.
Amupitan said INEC had secured speedboats, 4×4 off-road vehicles and local pack transport for difficult terrains in the Niger Delta, Lake Chad Basin, North-East and North-West.
He added that escort protocols and maritime safety equipment, including life jackets and waterproof material containers, were being procured.
To ensure polling units open at 7:30 a.m., Amupitan said non-sensitive materials were being pre-batched to Local Government Area hubs ahead of each election.
He said sensitive materials would move from Central Bank of Nigeria vaults to LGAs 72 hours before the polls and reach all 8,838 Registration Area Centres and Super RACs by 4 p.m. on the eve of the election.
Amupitan said INEC had completed nine of the 14 major activities planned for the 2027 General Elections.
“INEC has moved decisively from planning into execution. Our materials are in production, technology is undergoing rigorous quality assurance, our register is finalised for public display, and our workforce is being systematically trained,” he said.
He said the commission remained committed to neutrality, operational excellence and the integrity of the electoral process as the 100-day countdown to the 2027 General Elections began.
NAN
