ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN), has assured Nigerians that technological innovations introduced by the electoral body have effectively ended the era of ballot box snatching and manual manipulation of election results ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan gave the assurance on Wednesday in Abuja while receiving the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, during a courtesy visit to the commission’s headquarters.
The visit also provided both institutions with an opportunity to strengthen collaboration on voter education and civic engagement before the 2027 polls.
Recalling that the presidential election is scheduled for January 16, 2027, while governorship elections will hold on February 6, 2027, the INEC chairman said the commission must immediately intensify voter education, warning that voter apathy and misinformation remain serious threats to credible elections.
“We need to teach them why their vote matters and how our new legal and technological safeguards protect their choices. We must look the rural farmer, the marketplace woman, and the disillusioned urban youth in the eye and explain to them, in the language they understand, that because of the current technological infrastructure, the era of snatching ballot boxes or rewriting results manually is gone,” he said.
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Amupitan noted that although the commission recorded major operational successes during the February 21 Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections and the June 20 off-cycle governorship election in Ekiti State, the exercises also exposed growing voter apathy and confusion among many urban voters.
He listed the achievements to include more than 90 per cent early opening of polling units, biometric accreditation through the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), and rapid uploading of results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
Despite these improvements, he said many voters were still confused over polling unit redistribution and voter registration transfers.
“This is a clear indicator that while our technology is moving forward, civic familiarity with the evolving system is lagging. It is a loud diagnostic signal that far more needs to be done in the area of intensive, deep-rooted voter education, and it proves that we cannot afford to wait until the eve of the 2027 polls to start talking to our people,” he stated.
The INEC chairman stressed that technology alone cannot guarantee credible elections without an informed and actively participating electorate.
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“We can purchase the finest BVAS machines, we can optimise the IReV to international standards, and we can map out the most logistical routes for material deployment. But all of these technological and administrative triumphs mean nothing if the citizens remain detached, cynical, or completely uneducated about the power of their votes,” he said.
Describing the NOA as Nigeria’s foremost civic orientation agency, Amupitan said both organisations share a constitutional responsibility to educate citizens on democratic values and should jointly develop grassroots voter education campaigns that extend beyond announcing election dates.
He also called for coordinated campaigns against vote-buying, fake news and misinformation, urging that NOA field officers be equipped with accurate knowledge of INEC’s electoral processes to serve as trusted ambassadors within their communities.
“Together, INEC and the NOA must rewrite this narrative. We need to co-create a decentralised, grassroots voter education campaign that goes beyond simply telling people when to vote,” Amupitan said, adding that the collaboration between both agencies “is not a secondary option; it is an absolute necessity.”
Commending Issa-Onilu’s leadership and understanding of modern communication strategies, the INEC chairman said civic orientation in today’s digital era requires approaches that are youth-driven, interactive and technology-focused rather than outdated bureaucratic methods.
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He pledged the commission’s full support for the partnership.
“Our doors are wide open. We are ready to pool our resources, share our data, and give your teams all the institutional support required to make this collaboration a resounding success,” he added.
Earlier, NOA Director-General Lanre Issa-Onilu emphasised the need for stronger collaboration with INEC to reverse Nigeria’s declining voter turnout.
He lamented that the number of Nigerians who participate in elections remains significantly lower than the total number of registered voters.
“We are going into communities with our advocacy to the people.
“We both have in our hands civic education and voter education. We humbly seek support from INEC, which we are already having, but we believe it can be better. We need to increase the number of people who come out to vote. Those who come out to vote are very low compared to those on the register. We need to even let them know everything beyond the elections to ensure that Nigerians can keep track of cases in court,” he said.
Both agencies reaffirmed their commitment to working together to deepen voter education, combat misinformation and encourage greater citizen participation in the 2027 general elections.