Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, has reaffirmed the commission’s neutrality ahead of the 2027 general elections, declaring that it has no preferred candidate or political party.
Gatekeepers News reports that Amupitan stated this on Friday during a meeting with a pre-election fact-finding mission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by Victor Bockarie Foh, former Vice-President of Sierra Leone, in Abuja.
He said INEC was currently conducting a readiness assessment across the country’s geopolitical zones as part of preparations for the forthcoming elections.
“INEC under my watch has no candidate and no political party,” Amupitan said.
He added that the commission’s commitment remained centred on democratic principles and the wishes of the electorate.
“Our sole allegiance is to the rule of law, the sovereign will of the Nigerian electorate, and the democratic progress of our nation,” he said.
The INEC chairman disclosed that the 2027 general elections would be conducted across 8,809 registration areas and 774 local government areas nationwide.
He also revealed that Nigeria’s voter register had exceeded 103 million, while the commission had completed nine of the 14 major statutory milestones outlined in its revised electoral timetable.
According to him, INEC had concluded three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise and completed the nationwide physical display of the preliminary voters’ register.
On election technology, Amupitan said the commission would deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for fingerprint and facial biometric accreditation, alongside electronic result management systems.
He further disclosed that INEC had introduced the eEC8A electronic verification platform to strengthen result management and verification through the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
Amupitan added that the commission was collaborating with relevant security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to ensure adequate security during the elections.
Speaking on behalf of the ECOWAS mission, Foh said the visit was part of the regional body’s efforts to assess electoral preparedness in member states approaching general elections.
He explained that the mission would evaluate the readiness of electoral stakeholders and identify areas where ECOWAS could provide support.
Foh noted that the exercise was being undertaken in line with Article 31 of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and Article 53 of the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework.
