The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has assured Nigerians that the results of the 2027 general elections will not be decided in advance.
He said the commission was committed to organising transparent, free and credible elections while working with security agencies to prevent violence before and during the polls.
Amupitan spoke at the sixth Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers in Owerri, Imo State. The event focused on developing a roadmap for managing security during elections.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday by INEC’s Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser, Adedayo Oketola, the INEC chairman identified insecurity in some parts of the country as one of the major challenges ahead of the 2027 elections.
“There are still some states in Nigeria that you have a lot of insecurities around, and it’s a major source of concern for us. Because that can be a source of disenfranchisement of Nigerians, and we don’t want any Nigerian to be disenfranchised,” he said.
He said INEC was working with the Nigeria Police Force, which is the lead agency responsible for election security, to develop measures that would allow elections to take place safely in areas affected by insecurity.
Amupitan also raised concerns about the growing focus on personalities rather than policies during political campaigns. He urged political parties and candidates to campaign on issues and avoid personal attacks.
“Election should be based on issues and not campaign of calumny and denigration,” he said.
He added that INEC was collaborating with law enforcement agencies to ensure that anyone who violates the Electoral Act is arrested, investigated and prosecuted.
On disputes arising from political party primaries, Amupitan said such cases would be handled by the courts and would not prevent the 2027 elections from going ahead.
He explained that the Electoral Act provides a legal process for resolving primary-related disputes, including appeals up to the highest court. He also noted that elections are contested by political parties rather than individual candidates, meaning pending cases would not stop a party from taking part in the polls.
“Whichever decision that comes out with at the end of the day, INEC will abide by it,” he said.
The INEC chairman said the commission was also improving its intelligence-gathering efforts to tackle vote buying, particularly because much of the practice now takes place away from polling stations.
“These things are done and planned before the election. And most of the issues of vote buying now, you don’t even see them at the polling units. They are done outside of the polling units. So we need to activate intelligence,” he said.
He said INEC was considering the creation of a joint task force involving the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Attorney-General’s office and security agencies. He explained that the commission itself does not have the powers to arrest or investigate suspects.
Amupitan also said INEC would continue to improve its logistics and management of election results by addressing weaknesses identified during previous elections.
He added that recommendations from the police retreat would be taken to the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), which includes the Inspector-General of Police, the INEC chairman and other security and relevant government agencies, including the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Speaking about INEC’s preparations, Amupitan said recent off-cycle elections had helped the commission identify areas that needed improvement ahead of 2027.
He mentioned the Anambra, FCT and Osun elections, noting that none of the five off-cycle elections conducted so far had been declared inconclusive.
According to him, INEC had applied lessons from each election to improve the conduct of subsequent polls.
He said the commission would continue working to restore and strengthen public confidence in the electoral process.
“Just like some people were saying, oh, Osun is going to be this, Osun is going to be that, Osun is going to bring down the country. But we did everything possible, because what Nigerians are waiting for is just to be sure that the election is transparent,” he said.
Amupitan again pledged that INEC would work towards delivering a free, fair, credible and inclusive 2027 general election.