By Omeiza Ajayi

ABUJA: The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC has begun deploying non-sensitive materials to the zones as it prepares for the 2027 general election.

Acting Chairman of the commission, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at a benchmarking meeting with a delegation of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission IEBC.

“Right now, all non-sensitive materials are almost ready. In fact, today as we speak here, the non-sensitive materials have been lifted to some zones now,” Gumus said.

She said the commission had completed nine of its scheduled activities and was preparing for the next phase.

“We are preparing for the election next year and we have activities lined up. So far, we have been able to complete nine activities and we are still preparing for the next level of activities,” she said.

Gumus said the commission’s leadership had just concluded a tour of the country’s six zones to assess their level of preparedness.

“The purpose was to go round the zones to see how prepared we are, assess what the zones have put in place, their challenges and what to do. We concluded last week and we can see from our tour that we are really going towards the election proper,” she said.

On Permanent Voter Cards PVCs, the acting chairman said production had been completed and distribution to the states was well advanced.

“As of today, we can say that PVCs have been produced and the first, second batches, most of the states have received them. Their PVC collection is ongoing. All those who are supposed to be the voters are supposed to receive their PVCs, and if they don’t have them, it is also another challenge,” Gumus said.

She added that capacity building was under way for staff at the headquarters and in the states, and that the procurement and deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS devices were also ongoing.

On diaspora voting, Gumus said the commission could not proceed for now because the law did not provide for it.

“Here, because we go by the law, in our electoral law, it is not included there, so we cannot go on for the diaspora voting for now until we amend the electoral law,” she said.

The acting chairman said the commission had arranged for its directors to hold an interactive session with the Kenyan team and present papers on the work of their departments.

Leading the delegation, the Kenyan High Commissioner to Nigeria, Isaac Parashina, said the IEBC team was in Nigeria to benchmark ahead of Kenya’s general election in August 2027.

He said the team was studying how Nigeria handled its diaspora population and special voting groups, as Kenya sought to widen voting rights for citizens living abroad.

“Currently we have about 12 of them who voted in the last general election, but there is intention to expand to around, I think, 26,” Parashina said, referring to the countries where Kenyans abroad vote.

He said the expansion was a constitutional requirement backed by Kenyan court rulings, and would be enforced progressively.

Parashina said Nigeria’s election, which he noted would come in two rounds, would be closely watched across Africa. “Everyone is looking at what Nigeria will do because it is the biggest democracy in Africa. The success of Nigeria remains a great success to Kenya and indeed to the continent,” he added.

The High Commissioner thanked INEC for receiving the team despite a tight schedule and wished the commission success.

2027: INEC begins deploying non-sensitive materials

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