The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, has expressed optimism that the 2027 general election will be the most credible in Nigeria’s history.

Speaking on Sunday at the Citizens’ Townhall on the 2026 Electoral Act in Abuja, Amupitan said the commission is putting measures in place to ensure a smooth and transparent electoral process.

“By the grace of God, the 2027 election will be the best Nigeria has ever had. The electorate of 2027 is more aware and understands the direct correlation between elections and national development,” he said.

He stressed the need for a system that guarantees legitimacy and public confidence.

“When people trust INEC and their leaders, the country will move forward,” Amupitan added.

Addressing concerns over electronic result transmission, particularly following the technical glitches recorded during the 2023 presidential election, the INEC chairman said concrete steps are being taken to prevent a recurrence.

“Result management and logistics are two basic issues that we are working hard to manage effectively in order to enhance transparency and credibility,” he noted.

He expressed confidence that the technical challenges experienced previously would not reoccur.

“The glitch is eliminated; by God’s grace, it will not surface in Nigeria,” he stated.

Amupitan clarified that legal provisions permitting alternative collation methods serve merely as safety measures rather than indications of expected failure.

“It is just a proviso, a safeguard. If it fails, results must still be transmitted. But our determination is that it will not fail,” he explained.

The INEC boss also acknowledged that although the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) had been tested in off-cycle elections before 2023, the scale of the presidential election exposed gaps in nationwide stress-testing.

To address this, he disclosed that INEC plans to conduct a mock nationwide presidential exercise ahead of 2027 to test the system’s capacity for large-scale deployment.

He further highlighted logistics and infrastructure as critical factors in election success, noting that many challenges stem from network coverage and operational logistics rather than the electronic transmission platform itself.

“We will try to give Nigerians a near-perfect election,” Amupitan assured.