Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
The Independent National Electoral Commission has commenced a training of trainers for state coordinating supervisors of its Electoral Operations Support Centre, with a charge on participants to strengthen timely reporting, information verification and effective incident escalation ahead of the 2027 general elections, in a programme designed to build teams capable of providing dependable operational support across the country.
The training, organised by the Electoral Operations Department, is aimed at equipping state coordinating supervisors with the knowledge and practical skills required to coordinate EOSC activities and, in turn, train personnel who will support electoral operations during the elections. Delivering the welcome remarks on behalf of the Director of Electoral Operations, Isa Magaji, the Deputy Director, Operations, Jibril Mohammed, described the exercise as an important step towards building teams capable of providing timely and dependable operational support nationwide. He said the EOSC plays a critical role in helping the commission monitor developments from the field and ensuring that emerging operational challenges are promptly escalated to the appropriate authorities for necessary action. "Every report represents a situation affecting people," Mohammed said, stressing that behind every call or dashboard entry is someone who requires guidance, attention and a practical response. He noted that even issues such as delayed appointments or transportation difficulties could have implications for the smooth conduct of elections.
The EOSC is central to INEC's operational architecture, serving as the platform through which field officers across the country's 176,846 polling units and 8,838 registration area centres communicate with the commission's headquarters. Supervisors are expected to leave the training with a stronger understanding of EOSC responsibilities, reporting procedures, information verification, incident escalation and follow-up processes. Mohammed particularly emphasised the importance of accuracy and timeliness in operational reporting, explaining that an effective report must clearly establish what happened, where and when it happened, the action already taken and the current status of the incident.
Beyond technical competence, the deputy director urged participants to preserve the human side of their responsibilities by responding to field officers with calmness, respect and helpfulness, particularly when those officers are operating under pressure. "The quality of communication and the manner in which information is received could affect both the quality of information available to the commission and the support provided to personnel in the field," he said. He urged the participants to actively engage in the sessions, ask questions, share experiences and seek clarification on areas of uncertainty, noting that resolving operational ambiguities during training would help prevent them from becoming challenges during the elections. He tasked them with ensuring that the knowledge gained from the training was effectively transferred to personnel at the state level. "The success of this training will ultimately be measured by how confidently and effectively the personnel trained by you perform their responsibilities during the elections," he said.
The initiative forms part of INEC's broader preparations for the 2027 general elections, which are now in their final phase. The presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while the governorship and state assembly elections will follow on February 6. The commission has already commenced the nationwide collection of Permanent Voter Cards, which began on October 9, 2026, with voter registration now exceeding 103 million. Earlier in the week, INEC held a world press conference and national stakeholders' meeting in Abuja to mark 100 days to the elections, where the INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, outlined the commission's readiness across technology, logistics and personnel deployment.
Among the key preparations disclosed at the 100-day briefing was the acquisition of 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices, which have undergone software hardening, battery optimisation and biometric calibration to eliminate manual manipulation and prevent accreditation bypass. A nationwide audit of BVAS inventory, including activation testing and GPS tracking verification, has been concluded, and a six-day stress-testing exercise across all configured devices is scheduled from October 23 to 28, 2026. State-level training of Registration Area Technical Support personnel is set for November 2026, culminating in a strategic briefing on December 13, while local government area readiness audits will follow on January 13 and 14, 2027. A nationwide mock accreditation and election simulation will also hold in November 2026 to further test hardware, field personnel and network protocols.
The commission has also reviewed a memorandum of understanding with transport unions, including the National Union of Road Transport Workers, to guarantee the early pooling, vetting and mobilisation of over 100,000 vehicles and 4,000 boats for the movement of personnel and materials. For difficult-to-access terrains in the Niger Delta, Lake Chad Basin and high-altitude areas, dedicated speedboats, 4x4 off-road vehicles and local pack transport have been secured. All non-sensitive materials are being pre-batched to local government hubs, while sensitive materials will move from Central Bank vaults to local governments 72 hours before polls, reaching all registration area centres by 4 p.m. on the eve of the election. To support the integrity of results, INEC is integrating automated artificial intelligence auditing tools into its verification process under a five-pillar AI governance framework operating under mandatory human oversight. An AI governance policy is being finalised, and AI-driven anomaly detection tools are being deployed to monitor database traffic and shield public portals against cyber intrusions.
The political context in which these preparations are unfolding remains charged. The Supreme Court's September 28 ruling restored key provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 governing party membership registers and candidate nomination procedures, and INEC has said it will act in strict compliance with the judgment. The security environment continues to pose challenges, with kidnapping, banditry and political violence reported across several states, and stakeholders at a recent roundtable identified results transmission and collation, electoral violence, voter intimidation and security collusion as the biggest threats to the credibility of the 2027 elections. The National Peace Committee has also warned political actors against inflammatory campaigns after recording 60 election-related incidents within one month.
For INEC, the training of EOSC supervisors represents a foundational investment in the human infrastructure that will underpin its operational response during the elections. The commission has consistently emphasised that technology alone cannot guarantee a credible election without capable personnel to manage field operations and respond to emerging challenges. Mohammed's charge to the supervisors was unambiguous: every report from the field represents a real situation affecting real people, and the quality of their response will determine whether those situations are resolved or escalate into larger problems. The coming months will test whether the commission's preparations translate into a seamless operational framework capable of managing the complexities of Nigeria's most consequential electoral exercise.
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