The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will recruit 1,414,768 ad hoc personnel for the 2027 General Election, as Nigeria enters the final countdown to the polls, with just over 100 days to the first ballot.
The Commission will require 707,384 ad hoc personnel for each of the two election days scheduled for January 16 and February 6, 2027, covering 176,846 polling units nationwide.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Tuesday at the World Press Conference and National Stakeholders’ Meeting marking the final 100-day phase of preparations for the election at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja.
He said recruitment through the INEC Portal for Recruitment of Election Staff (INECPRES) commenced on September 18 and would close at midnight on November 18, 2026.
Amupitan said the Commission had moved decisively from planning into execution, with election materials in production, technology undergoing rigorous quality assurance, the voter register finalised for public display and its workforce being systematically trained.
“As we begin this 100-day sprint to the 2027 General Election, we reassure the nation and the international community of our total commitment to neutrality, operational excellence, and the sacred integrity of the ballot box,” he said.
The INEC chairman disclosed that the three phases of Continuous Voter Registration had produced 10,772,421 new voters, bringing the National Register of Voters to 103 million.
He said the register would be displayed for public scrutiny from October 9 to 15, while distribution of Phase One Permanent Voter Cards to Local Government centres would commence on October 9.
Amupitan also said production was advanced for 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices, while procurement of ballot papers and result sheets was nearing completion.
He said a six-day stress-testing exercise of configured BVAS devices would hold from October 23 to 28, followed by a nationwide mock accreditation exercise in November.
The INEC chairman urged Nigerians and stakeholders to support the Commission in delivering a transparent, peaceful and credible election, warning against disinformation and the manipulation of election-related information through artificial intelligence, voice cloning and deepfake videos.
“In national elections, it is far more important to be right than to be first,” he said.
