‎The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has taken its 2027 General Election readiness assessment to the North-West zone of Nigeria.

‎INEC Chairman, Professor Joash O. Amupitan, SAN, directed officials to identify and close operational gaps ahead of the elections.

‎Amupitan gave the charge on Monday in Kaduna at the North-West Zonal Interactive Meeting with Staff and Readiness Assessment.

‎He said the exercise is part of a six-zone national tour to assess INEC’s preparedness for the 2027 polls.

‎The INEC Chairman said the assessment would identify field challenges and develop practical solutions before election day.

‎He stressed that the success of elections would ultimately be determined at the grassroots, particularly at Local Governments Areas, Registration Area Centres and polling units.

‎Amupitan urged staff to present operational challenges for resolution ahead of the elections.

‎He said INEC was building on lessons learnt from recent elections as it prepares for the larger 2027 assignment.

‎The Chairman warned electoral officials against partisan conduct and administrative negligence, stressing the importance of neutrality and professionalism.

‎He disclosed that three phases of Continuous Voter Registration had produced 10-million-772-thousand-421 new registrations.

‎Amupitan said the new registrations would undergo verification through the Automated Biometric Identification System.

‎He called for the removal of bottlenecks in Permanent Voter Card distribution at the Local Government level to prevent eligible citizens from being disenfranchised.

‎The INEC Chairman said the Commission was refining its technology for voter verification and result transmission, including improvements to its Result

‎Management Systems and eEC8A.

‎He announced a “Zero-Failure” approach to logistics, covering early deployment of materials, movement, security coordination and training of ad-hoc personnel.

‎Supervising National Commissioner Mallam Kudu Haruna and Director of Planning and Monitoring Helen Ajayi said the zonal exercise would strengthen election administration, assess state preparedness and ensure compliance with INEC’s Code of Conduct.