The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has deployed a joint financial monitoring mechanism with relevant anti-graft and financial intelligence agencies to track illegal campaign spending ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The commission also disclosed that the number of registered voters in Nigeria had risen above 103 million following the completion of the three-phase Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at a strategic workshop for media executives organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in collaboration with the commission.
Amupitan said INEC was determined to prevent excessive spending and financial inducement from undermining the credibility of the 2027 elections.
According to him, the commission is working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to monitor campaign financing and identify suspicious transactions and expenditure.
He said the monitoring teams would track illegal campaign spending and strengthen surveillance around polling units to detect attempts by political actors to influence voters through financial inducements.
The INEC chairman warned political parties, candidates and campaign managers that violations of the Electoral Act would attract arrest and prosecution.
He stressed that electoral outcomes should be determined by voters’ convictions rather than the financial strength of candidates.
Amupitan also announced that INEC had acquired 57,000 additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines as part of efforts to strengthen its technological capacity for the 2027 elections.
He said the commission was targeting simultaneous voting across all polling units nationwide, while assuring Nigerians that lessons from recent off-cycle elections would be applied to improve logistics, personnel and technology.
On voter registration, the INEC chairman said the National Register of Voters had surpassed 103 million after the conclusion of the three phases of the CVR.
He said the exercise produced 10,772,421 new registrants, comprising 2,611,266 in the first phase, 4,121,835 in the second phase and 3,867,997 in the third phase, subject to final verification.
Amupitan said the final Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) cleanup had been completed, while the preliminary voters’ register had been displayed for claims and objections.
He explained that the first phase of the CVR commenced on August 25, 2025, and ended on December 10, 2025, while the second phase ran from January 5 to April 17, 2026.
The third phase commenced on May 11 and ended on July 26, 2026.
The commission said the registration exercise represented eight of the 14 major statutory activities outlined in its timetable for the 2027 elections.
Amupitan further warned political parties and candidates against violence, intimidation and hate speech during the electioneering period.
He said INEC, through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), had activated an early-warning mechanism to monitor political violence, thuggery and dangerous campaign rhetoric.
He warned that parties or candidates found responsible for inciting violence, disrupting opponents’ rallies or deploying armed thugs would face sanctions.
Earlier, NGE President, Eze Anaba, called for a credible and transparent electoral process that would give voters confidence that their votes would count and reduce the need for courts to determine electoral outcomes.
Anaba said elections were not merely about casting ballots but also about building citizens’ trust in the electoral process and the institutions responsible for conducting elections.
The Executive Director of the International Press Centre, Lanre Arogundade, also stressed the need for timely and transparent communication from INEC.
Speakers at the workshop equally warned against deepfakes, fabricated campaign materials and other forms of manipulated content capable of undermining public confidence in the electoral process.
Amupitan urged media editors to work with INEC in promoting verified information and responsible journalism ahead of the elections.
He described editors as a “bridge in an era of information chaos,” urging newsrooms to prioritise factual accuracy, proper context and verification over sensational reporting.
