INEC FCT Assures ECOWAS of 2027 Election Readiness, Puts Voter Register at 1.73m

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has reaffirmed its commitment to conducting peaceful, transparent, credible and inclusive 2027 general elections, disclosing that the territory’s voter register currently stands at 1.73 million.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Gabriel Hale Longpet, gave the assurance during a visit by the ECOWAS Pre-Election Mission to Nigeria, led by former Sierra Leone Vice-President Victor Bockarie Foh, at the INEC FCT headquarters in Abuja.

Longpet, who was represented by the Administrative Secretary, Mrs Abimbola Oladunjoye, said the Commission was strengthening its operational capacity and electoral preparations ahead of the polls.

He described the mission’s visit as a reflection of the longstanding partnership between Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in promoting democratic governance and electoral integrity across the sub-region.

The REC identified six priority areas guiding INEC’s preparations: electoral planning and implementation; voter registration and the integrity of the register; personnel readiness and capacity development; election materials, logistics and technology; electoral security and stakeholder coordination; and inclusion, transparency and public communication.

He disclosed that Nigeria’s national voter register had reached 103 million following the addition of 10 million new registrants, with the FCT accounting for 1.73 million voters.

Longpet also emphasised the Commission’s commitment to expanding electoral participation among women, young people and persons with disabilities, while strengthening public communication to counter misinformation and promote access to credible electoral information.

He said INEC had also taken steps to improve institutional capacity for planning, monitoring and reporting compliance with electoral activities and timelines.

According to him, the establishment of Planning and Monitoring departments across the 36 states and the FCT was part of the Commission’s efforts to strengthen oversight and ensure more effective implementation of electoral programmes.

Earlier, the head of the ECOWAS mission, Victor Bockarie Foh, said the visit was being conducted in line with Article 13 of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, which provides for fact-finding missions to assess electoral preparations in member states ahead of elections.

Foh explained that the mission’s mandate included collecting relevant legal instruments governing elections, gathering information on the conditions under which the polls would be conducted, engaging political actors and relevant authorities, and assessing the state of electoral preparedness.

He said the engagement with INEC FCT would enable the mission to obtain first-hand information on operational priorities, identify potential challenges and examine measures being implemented to improve readiness for the 2027 general elections.

Members of the delegation included Madam Francess Piagie Alghali, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security; Julius F. Sandy, Sierra Leone’s High Commissioner and Permanent Representative to ECOWAS; and officials from the ECOWAS Commission, the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), and the ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions (ECONEC).

The engagement forms part of ECOWAS’s pre-election assessment efforts aimed at supporting democratic processes, strengthening electoral institutions and promoting credible elections across the West African sub-region.