The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced plans to deploy a first-of-its-kind real-time election readiness tracker to enable the Commission to instantly monitor preparations across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) ahead of the 2027 general election.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Monday while declaring open a two-day Strategic Operational Workshop for Administrative Secretaries at the Marriott Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos.
Amupitan said the workshop would produce a standardised, Excel-based Administrative Secretary Master Operational Tracker Template linked directly to the Commission’s Election Monitoring and Support Centre (EMSC) dashboard and Election Project Plan (EPP).
He said the Commission had historically lacked a dedicated and uniform mechanism for tracking the operational responsibilities of Administrative Secretaries, adding that the new tool would address the institutional gap.
“Once deployed, the tracker will give Resident Electoral Commissioners, Supervising National Commissioners, the Secretary to the Commission and Headquarters instant visibility into material distribution, ad-hoc staff training and State-level readiness,” Amupitan said.
He said the system would replace “reactive panic with proactive management” by allowing the Commission to identify operational gaps early and respond to them before they affect the electoral process.
According to the INEC chairman, the innovation would also outlive the 2027 general election, serving as a permanent onboarding blueprint for future generations of Administrative Secretaries.
Amupitan linked the initiative to the Commission’s broader efforts to maintain a clean voters’ register and ensure seamless collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) as voter enrolment approaches 100 million.
He identified Continuous Voter Registration as one of five key operational pillars being reviewed at the workshop.
The other pillars, he said, are logistics and material management, electoral technology, optimisation of ad-hoc staff and financial compliance.
The INEC chairman said the tracker was developed from lessons learned during recent off-cycle elections, including the Osun State governorship election, where disciplined logistics and functional technology contributed to a transparent electoral process.
He said the Commission was now working to replicate that standard nationwide within the six-month window remaining before the 2027 general election.
Earlier, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Lagos State, Prof. Ayobami Salami, described the workshop as timely, given the Commission’s preparations for the 2027 elections.
Salami commended the European Union, through the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN), implemented with Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI), for supporting the workshop.
Also speaking, the Secretary to the Commission, Mrs Rose Oriaran-Anthony, said the workshop would ensure that the Commission’s headquarters and state offices operate from the same Election Project Plan.
She added that the training would equip Administrative Secretaries with updated knowledge of new policies, technology and administrative procedures ahead of the 2027 general election.
