The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that Nigeria’s National Register of Voters has risen to more than 103 million ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Monday at a strategic workshop for media executives organised by INEC in collaboration with Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI) and the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in Abuja.
The workshop, held at BON Hotel Octagon, Jahi District, with the theme, “Strengthening Democracy Through Partnership Among Editors, Civil Society and Electoral Institutions,” focused on strengthening collaboration among the electoral management body, the media and civil society ahead of the 2027 elections.
Amupitan said the Commission’s three-phase Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise had attracted more than 10.6 million new applicants, while the public display of the Preliminary Register for claims and objections had been completed.
He added that INEC had also completed the final Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) cleanup of the voter register.
The INEC chairman announced that nationwide collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would commence on Friday, October 9, 2026, urging eligible citizens to participate in the exercise.
He said INEC was committed to ensuring that the electoral process remained transparent, technology-driven and credible as the country approaches the 2027 general elections.
According to him, the Commission would continue to improve the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) to ensure that every valid vote counts and is seen to count.
Amupitan, however, stressed that public trust remained the ultimate determinant of electoral credibility, noting that operational efficiency by INEC alone could not guarantee democratic stability.
“The ultimate arbiter of electoral integrity is public trust,” he said.
He called for stronger collaboration between INEC, editors, civil society organisations and other stakeholders, assuring that the Commission was ready to listen to editorial concerns, address operational challenges and provide timely information to prevent misinformation from filling communication gaps.
The INEC chairman also urged newsrooms to establish digital fact-verification desks and pledged to provide editors with direct access to verify field incidents, logistical developments and security reports in real time.
He further proposed a sustained editorial feedback mechanism between INEC and the NGE to review operational progress and resolve emerging challenges throughout the 2027 election cycle.
Earlier, NGE President, Mr Eze Anaba, described the workshop as timely, given the country’s proximity to another general election.
Anaba said elections were not merely about casting ballots but also about citizens having confidence that their votes would count and that institutions conducting elections would act fairly and professionally.
He urged editors to uphold accuracy, fairness, balance and public interest in electoral reporting, while calling for stronger access to credible and timely information from INEC.
Director, Voter Education and Publicity Department, Mrs Victoria Eta-Messi, identified misinformation and disinformation as major factors contributing to declining citizen participation.
She urged media organisations to support INEC by ensuring that accurate and timely information reached citizens, particularly as the Commission prepares for the commencement of PVC collection.
DAI Team Leader, Rudolf Elbling, said credible elections depended not only on effective electoral administration but also on professional, ethical and fact-based journalism.
He identified electoral integrity, election technology, the security of journalists and voters, and information disorder as some of the major challenges confronting the media ahead of 2027.
Executive Director of the Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), Dr Akin Akingbulu, said Nigeria was at a critical point in its democratic journey, with the 2027 elections approaching and PVC collection scheduled to begin within days.
He noted that electoral information was already shaping public discourse across newspapers, radio, television and digital platforms.
Akingbulu said editors were not defined merely by their positions but by the responsibility they carried as stewards of the electoral information ecosystem.
Referring to the need for editors to rigorously verify information, beware of deepfakes and avoid publishing unofficial results, he said: “Verification is a two-way street. Verify before you amplify.”
Executive Director of the International Press Centre (IPC), Mr Lanre Arogundade, said electoral contestation went beyond campaigns and voting to include political interests, information battles and citizens’ perceptions of electoral actors.
He warned that the political economy of the media could affect the ability of newsrooms to report elections impartially.
Opening the strategic session, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Mal. Mohammed Haruna, said the Commission had conducted a series of elections under its current leadership, including the Anambra governorship election, FCT Area Council elections, Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, as well as several legislative bye-elections.
He said INEC had also monitored the primaries of the country’s 22 political parties for the 2027 general elections, including nominations arising from the creation of new court-ordered constituencies.
Haruna said the Commission’s elections had progressively improved, describing the Osun governorship election as widely adjudged the most successful so far.
Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Adedayo Oketola, outlined three broad objectives of the strategic workshop.
He said the first was to rebuild institutional trust through open dialogue by establishing a transparent two-way communication channel between INEC leadership and media gatekeepers.
The second objective, he said, was to combat information disorder and strengthen fact verification by establishing seamless 24-hour fact-verification loops between newsrooms and INEC so that speed would not come at the expense of accuracy.
According to Oketola, the third objective was to promote shared democratic responsibility among the media, civil society and electoral institutions through ethical gatekeeping, conflict-sensitive reporting and civic enlightenment.
Following the opening ceremony, participants moved into technical sessions examining various dimensions of electoral reporting and democratic participation.
The sessions, facilitated by Dr Tony Onyima, Prof Lai Olurode, Lobe Hvass, Mr Lanre Idowu and Mr Lanre Arogundade, focused on strengthening Nigeria’s electoral integrity through responsible and balanced reporting, effective enforcement of electoral laws, election technology, citizenship and inclusive governance.
They also examined the future of Nigerian children, electoral safety and prosecution of electoral offences, as well as strategies for combating misinformation and information disorder through fact-checking and ethical gatekeeping in election reporting.
