INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, has assured Nigerians that the 2027 general elections will not be decided in advance, promising free, fair, credible and inclusive polls.
Speaking at the sixth Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers in Owerri, Imo State, Amupitan said insecurity remained a major concern and could disenfranchise voters.
“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, the lead agency for election security, to ensure voting takes place safely in affected areas.
Amupitan urged parties and candidates to focus on policies rather than personal attacks. “Election should be based on issues and not campaign of calumny and denigration,” he said.
He said Electoral Act violations would be investigated and prosecuted, while courts would handle disputes from party primaries without stopping the 2027 polls.
“Whichever decision that comes out with at the end of the day, INEC will abide by it,” he said.
On vote buying, he said INEC was improving intelligence gathering because the practice now often happens outside polling units.
“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 may create a joint task force with the Federal Ministry of Justice, Attorney-General’s office and security agencies.
Amupitan also said lessons from the Anambra, FCT and Osun elections, among five off-cycle polls so far, were being used to improve logistics, results management and public confidence.
He said recommendations from the police retreat would go to ICCES, which includes INEC, the Inspector-General of Police, the Office of the National Security Adviser and other relevant agencies.
“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.
