Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has called for the partnership of the United Nations in combating disinformation in the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, made the call on during a courtesy visit by a United Nations delegation, led by Dr Leonardo Santos Simão, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.
Amupitan also called for UN’s partnership in enhancing early warning security monitoring and civic inclusion for women, youth and vulnerable groups in Nigeria.
He identified foreign information manipulation, fake news and targetted electoral disinformation as major emerging threats to democratic processes in West Africa.
“As we deepen our preparations for the 2027 general elections, the commission welcomes continued strategic support and collaborations with the United Nations in several key areas.
“These areas include electoral information integrity and countering disinformation, partnering on rapid response mechanism and public awareness initiative to combat foreign information manipulation and interference, the highlighted system manipulations and electoral disinformation.
“One of the greatest challenges to this relation is the issue of disinformation and misinformation, most especially when it has foreign components,” he said.
Amupitan reaffirmed INEC’s commitment to conducting free, fair, credible and transparent elections in 2027, assuring Nigerians that the commission was actively refining its operations to uphold the integrity of the ballot.
He highlighted key institutional reforms, technological updates and voter register cleanup exercises currently underway ahead of the upcoming elections.
The INEC chairman noted that Nigeria’s national voter register currently stands at 103 million, with young voters between the ages of 18 and 34 accounting for nearly 29 per cent of the electorate.
“Using technology, including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), we have successfully identified and removed over 1.5 million ineligible registrations prior to reaching this 103 million mark.
“The cleanup process is ongoing, with display of the register for claims and objections in accordance with Section 19 of the Electoral Act. The final cleaned register will be published on Dec. 15,” Amupitan said.
The INEC chairman added that the commission was actively distributing permanent voter cards (PVCs) across the nation for new registrants, those who updated their details and voters requesting replacement cards.
To enhance operational efficiency and speed up voter accreditation on election day, Amupitan said that the commission had lowered the voter threshold per BVAS device from 1,250 to 800 voters.
He also noted that to build public trust and test technical readiness, INEC planned to conduct nationwide mock accreditation and election exercises prior to the general elections.
“Our objective is to ensure efficient logistics, transparent result management via the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and timely declaration of results.
“Election should be a source of peace, stability and nation-building,” the chairman said.
In his remarks, the head of the delegation said that the mission was aimed at offering moral and strategic support to Nigeria, as it prepares for the critical polls.
Simão said that given Nigeria’s strategic importance in West Africa, peaceful and successful elections in the country would serve as an inspiration to the entire sub-region.
He empasised the need for Nigeria to conduct peaceful elections in spite of the diverse views and sentiments involved in any election.
“Elections are always challenging in any country because there are so many views, sentiments and emotions involved.
“Therefore, it is important to manage all of these varieties without putting in danger peace and stability of the country. Particularly in our case here, the country Nigeria is being affected by terrorism and other sources of violence,” he said.
He said that Nigeria election should not be another source of violence or burden for the country, urging INEC to make sure that the elections were peaceful.
“Elections are always challenging because of the varied political sentiments and emotions involved.
“Given that Nigeria is already dealing with security challenges, the election should not be another source of violence or burden for the country,” he said.
Simão added that while the UN delegation would not act as official election observers due to mandate constraints, its presence in the country would continue through the election period to encourage positive behaviours and support peaceful political dialogue among political actors.
“Our objective is to give our contribution for successful elections. We need peaceful elections not only for the benefit of the people of Nigeria, but also of the region.
“Successful elections in Nigeria will be a sort of inspiration to other countries also to follow through. Therefore, the regional integration also happens at this level,” he said.
