Nigeria: 2027 - PDP Cautions State Excos Against Engaging Non-Party Members As Polling Agents

What the report says

The Peoples Democratic Party has warned its state, local government and ward executives not to recruit non-members as polling agents for Nigeria’s 2027 general elections. According to Premium Times, the caution came during a capacity-building session at the PDP secretariat in Abuja, where party leaders were training state secretaries and ICT officers on how to upload agents’ details to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s online portal.

The party’s national chairman, Abdulrahman Mohammed, and national organizing secretary, Umar Bature, said the exercise was meant to prepare officials for the new electronic nomination and accreditation process. They urged participants to study the system carefully and pass the training on to party structures in their states and local governments. Bature also stressed the need to vet nominees closely so that only committed party members are deployed.

INEC has opened the portal for political parties to submit polling-agent information ahead of the 2027 polls. The commission has set 10 December 2026 as the submission deadline and requires details such as names, phone numbers, gender, polling unit assignments, photographs and identification documents. The report said the shift from paper-based submission to an online system is intended to streamline accreditation and reduce duplication or administrative errors.

The development matters because polling agents are central to party oversight at polling units, where they monitor voting, counting and result recording. INEC has fixed 16 January 2027 for presidential and National Assembly elections, with governorship and state assembly elections due on 6 February 2027.