The Independent National Electoral Commission has called for a stronger partnership with the National Orientation Agency, to tackle voter apathy, misinformation and civic disengagement ahead of the 2027 General Election.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, made the call on Wednesday, while receiving the Director-General of the NOA, Lanre Issa-Onilu, during a courtesy visit to the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Amupitan described the visit as more than a routine engagement, saying both institutions share a constitutional responsibility to educate Nigerians on democratic values and electoral participation.
He said, “To me, this is not a routine visit; it is a vital meeting of minds and a reunion of two institutions constitutionally saddled with the responsibility of educating Nigerians on democratic culture.”
The INEC chairman stressed that technological improvements in Nigeria’s electoral process would only achieve their intended impact if citizens understood and trusted the system.
He said, “INEC cannot build a robust democracy in isolation. We can purchase the finest Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines, we can optimise the INEC Result Viewing Portal to international standards, and we can map out the most logistical routes for material deployment. But all of these technological and administrative triumphs mean nothing if the citizens remain detached, uninformed, cynical, or completely uneducated about the power of their votes.”
Amupitan urged both agencies to develop a grassroots voter education campaign that would explain not only when Nigerians should vote but also why their votes matter and how recent legal and technological reforms protect electoral outcomes.
He said, “We need to co-create a decentralized, grassroots voter education campaign that goes beyond simply telling people when to vote. We need to teach them why their vote matters and how our new legal and technological safeguards protect their choices.”
According to him, Nigerians must also be reassured that electoral reforms have significantly strengthened the integrity of elections.
He said, “We must look the rural farmer, the marketplace woman, and the disillusioned urban youth in the eye and explain to them, in the language they understand, that because of the current technological infrastructure, the era of snatching ballot boxes or rewriting results manually is gone.”
The INEC chairman cited the February 21 Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections and the June 20 Ekiti State governorship election as evidence of improvements in election administration.
He noted that both elections recorded over 90 per cent early opening of polling units, successful biometric accreditation through BVAS and rapid uploads of polling unit results to the IReV portal.
However, he said the elections also exposed persistent voter apathy and confusion among many voters over polling unit changes and registration transfers.
Amupitan said, “Despite our operational precision, both the FCT and Ekiti polls revealed a persistent, deeply concerning undercurrent of voter apathy, alongside widespread confusion among urban newcomers regarding local polling unit splits and registration transfers.
“This is a loud diagnostic signal that far more needs to be done in the area of intensive, deep-rooted voter education, and it proves that we cannot afford to wait until the eve of the 2027 polls to start talking to our people.”
Describing voter apathy and misinformation as major threats to Nigeria’s democracy, the INEC chairman said both agencies must work together to reverse the trend.
He said, “We must be honest with ourselves. We are battling a silent, dangerous enemy in our electoral ecosystem: voter apathy and deep-seated cynicism.”
“We also see a sophisticated, orchestrated wave of fake news and disinformation designed to make the ordinary Nigerian believe their vote will not count. Together, INEC and the NOA must rewrite this narrative.”
Amupitan said preparations for the 2027 elections must begin immediately, revealing that the presidential election is scheduled for January 16, 2027, while governorship elections will hold on February 6, 2027.
He called for institutional collaboration between INEC’s Voter Education Department and NOA’s communication teams to combat vote-buying and misinformation.
He said, “Let us build joint campaigns against the toxic menace of vote-buying and misinformation, which threaten to contaminate our democracy.”
The INEC chairman assured the NOA of the commission’s full support, saying, “We are ready to pool our resources, share our data, and give your teams all the institutional support required to make this collaboration a resounding success.”
