The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it is awaiting the full release of a substantial portion of its proposed budget for the 2027 general elections as it prepares to replace damaged and lost Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices.
The commission also disclosed plans to conduct a mock presidential election to test the functionality of BVAS and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) under conditions similar to election day.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, made this known at the 13th Annual International Conference of the Association of Communication Scholars and Professionals of Nigeria (ACSPN) in Abuja.
He was represented at the event by National Commissioner, Sani Adam.
Speaking on the theme, “Media, Technology and Elections in Africa: Navigating Digital Disruption and the New Dynamics of Electoral Communication,” Amupitan said the proposed budget contained significant allocations for election technology and operations.
He said the allocation included funds for new accreditation devices to replace those lost or damaged during the last electoral cycle.
While the full release of the funds was still pending, the chairman said INEC’s ICT team had already begun engagements with manufacturers on procurement.
He added that preparations for a technology audit and the proposed mock election were progressing alongside budget finalisation.
Amupitan disclosed that INEC was conducting a comprehensive audit of its electoral technology systems, including system redundancy, penetration testing and disaster recovery planning.
The commission is also exploring a mock presidential election ahead of 2027 to test voter accreditation, result transmission and result viewing under conditions similar to the actual election.
The INEC chairman called for electoral technology and communication to be treated as an integrated discipline, warning that AI-driven disinformation could pose a major threat to the credibility of the 2027 elections.
He said the credibility of the commission depended not only on the integrity of ballots, BVAS and result sheets but also on how well citizens understood and trusted the electoral process.
Amupitan said the deployment of BVAS and IReV was designed to address longstanding credibility concerns by allowing citizens to view polling-unit results before they could be altered during collation.
He acknowledged, however, that the 2023 elections demonstrated how technology could become a source of public distrust when it failed to perform as expected.
According to him, legitimacy is earned when electoral systems perform reliably, are properly understood and when shortcomings are explained honestly.
The INEC chairman also warned about the growing threat posed by synthetic and fabricated content generated through artificial intelligence.
He said manipulated videos, audio and images could reach millions of social media users before verification was possible.
He identified algorithmic microtargeting as another concern because it allows different messages to be directed at specific segments of the electorate without a common factual foundation.
Amupitan outlined a five-point approach that includes integrating technology and communication planning, establishing a rapid-response mechanism to counter falsehoods within the same news cycle, proactively communicating known vulnerabilities and safeguards, deepening collaboration with media scholars, fact-checkers and technology platforms, and investing continuously in public media literacy.
He also called for greater collaboration between INEC and communication scholars on media literacy research, synthetic-content detection and training for journalists and civic educators.
The INEC chairman observed that the 2027 electorate would be younger and more reliant on mobile technology than previous electorates.
He described the smartphone as the primary window through which many voters would experience the election.
He cautioned that solutions adopted from other countries must be adapted to Nigeria’s realities, including internet access, language diversity and institutional trust.
Amupitan stressed that INEC’s response to disinformation would be to provide better and faster information rather than restrict legitimate journalism or civic dissent.
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