The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced work on its Election Project Plan (EPP) for the 2027 general elections, incorporating lessons learned from the 2023 polls to improve efficiency and transparency.
A senior INEC official to DAILY GAZETTE confirmed that the commission is updating its election templates and refining strategies to enhance the credibility of future elections.
Part of this effort includes developing a 2027–2031 Strategic Plan, which will replace the current 2022 – 2026 Strategic Plan set to expire in December 2026.
Additionally, INEC is working on a transitional document to bridge the gap between 2026 and the 2027 election year, ensuring continuity in election planning.
“The previous strategic plan focused on institutionalizing INEC’s processes, capacity building, and resource management, while the EPP is a more focused document designed specifically for the conduct of a general election,” the official explained.
The Election Project Plan was first introduced for the 2015 general election and has since been a key part of INEC’s preparations for the 2019 and 2023 elections.
Following logistical and technical challenges in the 2023 general election, INEC is reviewing its operational framework to enhance efficiency.
The last election involved 93,469,008 registered voters across 176,846 polling units, requiring the deployment of over 1.5 million personnel and 182,491 vehicles to facilitate the process nationwide.
One of the major setbacks in 2023 was the delay in uploading presidential election results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal, despite successfully managing uploads for National Assembly elections.
A configuration issue in the system caused delays in processing nationwide presidential results.
INEC later resolved the issue through a software update, allowing the first presidential election result sheet to be uploaded later on election day.
