From Garba Abdullahi Bagwai, in Kano
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed plans to conduct a mock accreditation exercise ahead of the 2027 general elections in selected states and local government areas across the country.
The exercise is part of the commission’s preparations for the elections and is aimed at testing the readiness and effectiveness of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and other electoral equipment.
The Chief Information Officer at INEC headquarters, Hajiya Zainab Aminu Abubakar, disclosed this in a telephone conversation with Citizenship Daily on Friday.
She said the exercise would subject the BVAS and other electoral equipment to rigorous field testing to identify and address possible operational challenges ahead of the elections.
According to her, the commission has not yet announced the states and local government areas selected for the exercise, but the details would be released within the coming days.
“Though the mock exercise is not new to the commission, traditionally before every general or off-cycle election, the commission conducts such an exercise to ensure its readiness for a hitch-free election,” she said.
Hajiya Zainab said the mock exercise was designed to identify potential challenges ahead of the elections and provide the commission with an opportunity to address them before election day.
She added that INEC was determined to build on lessons learnt from previous elections to improve the electoral process.
The INEC information officer also disclosed that the commission had already replaced some faulty BVAS machines as part of efforts to ensure the successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.
“We have confidence that the next general election will be free from faulty Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines.
“However, the commission is always reviewing its previous exercises to understand what worked well and identify areas that require improvement,” she said.
