The 2027 election will be conducted under Nigeria’s new Electoral Act 2026, which introduced changes designed to make voting and result management more technology-driven. Among the major changes are the statutory use of BVAS for voter accreditation and electronic transmission of polling-unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
What Will Change for Voters?
On election day, voters will need to appear at the polling unit where they are registered with their Permanent Voter Card (PVC). INEC’s current polling-unit guidance says accreditation and voting will take place concurrently from 8:30am to 2:30pm.
The biggest technological change is that BVAS will be used for voter accreditation, with the process being on a legal basis under the new Electoral Act. After accreditation, voters will cast their ballot in secret, as before.
Another major change is on what happens after votes are counted. Presiding officers are required to electronically transmit polling-unit results to IReV after the relevant result form has been completed and signed. If electronic transmission fails because of communication problems, however, the signed physical result form remains the main source for collation and declaration.
For Nigerians, this means the 2027 election will combine in-person voting with technology-based accreditation and result transmission. The changes are intended to strengthen transparency, but their effectiveness will also depend on INEC’s preparation, technology and network availability on election day.
