The Independent National Electoral CommissionINEC) has called on the Federal Government to ensure the prompt release of the remaining part of its budget to enable credible preparations for the 2027 general elections.
The Commission said early funding was critical for procurement of electoral materials, voter registration, and logistics ahead of the polls.
NEC Chairman Joash Amupitan made the request Tuesday at a news conference and national stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja marking 100 days before the vote.
He said the Commission had received statutory allocations that allowed it to meet vendor obligations, procure election technology and upgrade infrastructure, but needed the outstanding funds to complete its preparations.
“Executing a national election of this magnitude requires robust financial backing and fiscal discipline,” Amupitan said.
“However, we expect the prompt release of the remaining budget to ensure seamless execution of the remaining activities”, he said.
The Commission’s appeal comes as it moves from planning to deployment for elections scheduled for January 16 and February 6, 2027.
It is preparing to administer voting across 176,846 polling units and expects to engage 707,384 temporary election workers for each of the two election days, he added.
Amupitan said the Commission’s goal was to make the election “a global benchmark for transparency, integrity, and peace.”
He pointed to recent governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun, as well as Federal Capital Territory Area Council Council elections and federal and state by-elections, which he said had passed integrity tests by domestic and international observers.
Out of the 22 registered political parties, 18 submitted presidential candidates, according to Amupitan.
Accord Party (AP), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the Youth Party(YP) submitted no presidential candidate, while the New Nigeria Peoples Party(NNPP) withdrew during the substitution period.
Twenty-one parties sponsored 1,313 Senate candidates and 3,547 candidates for the House of Representatives.
The same number of parties nominated 936 governorship and deputy-governorship candidates and 9,692 candidates for state legislative seats.
The Commission investigated 112 complaints involving withdrawals, substitutions and typographical errors, Amupitan added.
He said cases still before the courts were excluded from the commission’s final resolutions.
INEC is also reviewing a September 24 Supreme Court judgment in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party(ZLP) that affirmed provisions of Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2026.
The Commission received a certified copy of the ruling Tuesday morning, he said.
Separately, INEC restored 27 state constituencies in Benue, Delta, Jigawa and Kogi states between June and August.
It also created two constituencies in Delta–Warri South West II and Warri North II–to comply with a separate Supreme Court decision.
Three phases of continuous voter registration produced 10.77 million new registrations after biometric verification, Amupitan said.
The national register now contains about 103 million voters.
The registration phases recorded 2.61 million voters between August and December 2025, 4.12 million between January and April 2026, and 3.87 million between May and July 2026.
Lagos has the largest voter population, with 7,488,633 registered voters, followed by Kano with 6,570,276 and Kaduna with 4,662,640.
Katsina, Rivers, Oyo, Delta, Benue, Ogun and Bauchi also have more than 3 million voters each.
Ekiti has the smallest register among the states, with 1,055,708 voters, followed by Bayelsa, the Federal Capital Territory, Yobe and Gombe.
Men account for 51.75% of registered voters, compared with 48.25% for women.
Voters aged 35 to 49 represent the largest age group, at 41.83%, while those between 18 and 34 account for 28.79%.
INEC will display the voter register for claims and objections from October 9 through October 15.
Collection of permanent voter cards from the first registration phase is scheduled to begin October 9 at local government centres.
The final register is expected to be presented to political parties on December 15.
The Commission introduced online registration during the third phase of the exercise and is also deploying printable voter cards, Amupitan said.
INEC has moved into the execution stage for the procurement of 57,000 new Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices, as well as ballot boxes, voting cubicles, vehicles, solar-power systems and storage facilities.
The Commission has renewed agreements with transport unions for more than 100,000 vehicles and 4,000 boats.
It plans to use speedboats in the Niger Delta and around Lake Chad, four-wheel-drive vehicles in mountainous areas, and waterproof containers for sensitive election materials.
Sensitive materials will be moved from Central Bank vaults to local government areas 72 hours before voting and delivered to registration area centres by 4 p.m on the eve of the election.
He said polls are scheduled to open at 7:30 a.m, adding that INEC has hardened the BVAS software and improved battery performance.
It also plans a six-day system stress test from October 23 to October 28, a nationwide mock accreditation exercise in November and readiness audits at local government offices in January.
The Commission says its eEC8A system will cryptographically authenticate polling unit results before uploading them to the INEC Results Viewing portal, adding that a downloadable voter card has already been tested in Osun.
The European Union reaffirmed its support for Nigeria’s democratic institutions and said it had no preferred candidate or political party.
European Union (EU) representative Gautier Mingot described the 2027 election as an opportunity to reinforce confidence in Nigeria’s democracy and give elected officials the legitimacy to govern for the next four years.
He cited the Osun governorship election as an example of improved public confidence and reduced post-election tension.
Mingot said credible elections would require cooperation among government institutions, political parties, security agencies, the media, civil society groups and voters.
INEC’s request for the remaining funds now places budget execution alongside technology, logistics and security as a central test of whether the Commission can convert its preparations into a nationwide election operation.
The Commission says nine of the 14 statutory milestones in its revised timetable have been completed.
