INEC Plans Mock Presidential Poll to Test e-Transmission Ahead of 2027 Elections
By: Oluwaseun Lawal
The road to 2027 has officially begun. Quietly. But deliberately.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rolled out its timetable for the next general elections and, this time, it wants to test-drive the system before Nigerians step into polling units. A mock presidential election is coming.
At a press conference in Abuja, INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, confirmed that presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on February 20, 2027. Governorship and State Assembly polls will follow on March 6. Dates fixed. Countdown started.
But beyond the calendar, the bigger story is technology.
After the controversies surrounding the Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in previous elections, public trust took a hit. People still talk about “glitches.” Still argue about uploads. Still question transparency.
Amupitan says the commission has heard all of that.
He disclosed plans for a mock presidential election specifically to test the electronic transmission infrastructure. Not theory. Not promises. A practical simulation. According to him, technology must be tested thoroughly before being deployed at a national scale. Otherwise, problems happen. And confidence suffers.
He made it clear that electronic transmission is not being abandoned. Regardless of ongoing legislative conversations, INEC already has its internal policies. Results, he said, should be transmitted.
Meanwhile, political parties have been put on notice.
With the formal publication of the Notice of Election, the window for primaries is now officially open. The Chairman warned parties to respect timelines and uphold internal democracy. No shortcuts. No violence. No inflammatory rhetoric. INEC, he stressed, will enforce compliance with the law.
Then came the money question.
Responding to reports that the commission might spend as much as ₦1 trillion on the elections, Amupitan dismissed the claim. He explained that the scale of Nigerian elections is massive — nearly 450,000 ad-hoc staff to be recruited and trained, four poll officials per polling unit, logistics across thousands of locations. Add inflation. Add foreign exchange volatility. Costs rise.
But ₦1 trillion? He says no.
He also addressed reports suggesting INEC planned to divert funds to build hospitals. According to him, that narrative was a misrepresentation. The commission maintains clinics for staff and purchases medical supplies for them. That’s it. No hospital construction project. None.
As for the chosen dates, Amupitan said they strictly comply with the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act 2022, which require that a Notice of Election be issued at least 360 days before polling day. INEC, he noted, is bound by those legal frameworks. Even in states like Anambra, Bayelsa, and Edo that operate on off-cycle schedules due to court rulings altering tenures, constitutional provisions still apply.
Now, the clock is ticking.
INEC is calling on security agencies, political actors, civil society, and the media to treat 2027 as a shared national responsibility. The systems will be tested. The dates are fixed. The preparations have started.
This time, the commission says, it wants fewer surprises. And fewer excuses.
