The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has identified vote-buying, localised electoral violence, hate speech, disinformation, security risks and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) as major threats to Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, raised the concerns on Tuesday, August 19, in Abuja while receiving a Pre-Election Assessment Mission delegation from the International Republican Institute (IRI), led by former United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Jendayi Frazier.
Amupitan warned that the threats, if left unaddressed, could undermine voter confidence and disrupt the electoral process.
He said INEC was strengthening its capacity to deploy about 1.4 million ad-hoc personnel to more than 176,000 polling units nationwide.
The chairman also said the commission was using the Automated Biometric Identification System under the Continuous Voter Registration framework to detect duplicate registrations and maintain a clean and verified National Register of Voters.
On election security, Amupitan said INEC was working with security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), while collaborating with anti-corruption bodies to enforce campaign finance rules, monitor electoral offences and prosecute violators.
He also reaffirmed INEC’s commitment to neutrality throughout the electoral process.
Hadizat Giwa