From Atiku Sarki, Abuja
Ahead of the 2027 General Election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is set to deploy a first-of-its-kind, real-time election readiness tracker to enable the Commission to monitor preparations across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Monday while declaring open a two-day Strategic Operational Workshop for Administrative Secretaries at the Marriott Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos.
He also confirmed that the national voter register for the 2027 General Election is approaching 100 million registered voters.
Prof. Amupitan said the workshop would produce a standardised, Excel-based Administrative Secretary Master Operational Tracker Template, linked directly to the Commission’s Election Monitoring and Support Centre (EMSC) dashboard and the Election Project Plan (EPP).
He noted that the Commission had historically lacked a dedicated and uniform mechanism for tracking the operational responsibilities of Administrative Secretaries, describing the new tool as an initiative designed to bridge the institutional gap.
According to him, once deployed, the tracker will provide Resident Electoral Commissioners, Supervising National Commissioners, the Secretary to the Commission and Headquarters with instant visibility into material distribution, ad hoc staff training and state-level election readiness.
He said the system would replace what he described as “reactive panic with proactive management.”
The INEC Chairman added that the innovation would outlive the 2027 election, serving as a permanent onboarding blueprint for future generations of Administrative Secretaries.
He linked the initiative to the Commission’s efforts to maintain a clean voter register and ensure seamless Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) collection as voter registration approaches the 100 million mark.
He identified Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) as one of five operational pillars under review at the workshop, alongside logistics and materials management, electoral technology, ad hoc staff optimisation and financial compliance.
Prof. Amupitan said the tracker initiative was informed by lessons from recent off-cycle elections, including the Osun State Governorship Election, where disciplined logistics and functional technology contributed to a transparent electoral process.
He said the Commission was now working to replicate that standard nationwide within the six-month period remaining before the 2027 General Election.
In his remarks, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Lagos State, Professor Ayobami Salami, described the workshop as timely and important to the Commission’s preparations for the 2027 election.
He also commended the European Union, through the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN), implemented with Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), for supporting the exercise.
Also speaking, the Secretary to the Commission, Mrs Rose Oriaran-Anthony, said the workshop would ensure that the Commission’s headquarters and all state offices operate from the same Election Project Plan.
She added that it would equip Administrative Secretaries with updated knowledge of new policies, technology and administrative procedures ahead of the 2027 election.
According to her, every state delegation was expected to leave the workshop with a logistics risk register, an ad hoc recruitment and deployment plan, a stakeholder engagement plan for the next three months, and the new tracker template.
The workshop, organised under the auspices of the Office of the Secretary to the Commission with support from DAI-EUSDGN, was attended by National Commissioners, Resident Electoral Commissioners, the Director-General of the Electoral Institute, directors from the Commission’s headquarters, and Administrative Secretaries from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
