2027: INEC has no preferred candidate, party — Amupitan

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that it has no preferred candidate or political party for the 2027 general elections, pledging to uphold the rule of law and the will of Nigerian voters.

INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, stated this on Friday when he received a pre-election fact-finding mission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by former Sierra Leone Vice-President, Victor Bockarie Foh, in Abuja.

Amupitan said the commission was conducting a readiness assessment tour across the country’s geopolitical zones as part of preparations for the 2027 general elections.

“INEC under my watch has no candidate and no political party,” he said.

“Our sole allegiance is to the rule of law, the sovereign will of the Nigerian electorate, and the democratic progress of our nation.”

The INEC chairman disclosed that the elections would be conducted across 8,809 registration areas and 774 local government areas in the country.

He said Nigeria’s voter register had surpassed 103 million, adding that the commission had completed nine of the 14 major statutory milestones outlined in its revised election timetable.

According to him, INEC had also concluded three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise and completed the nationwide physical display of the preliminary voter register.

On the technology to be deployed for the elections, Amupitan said the commission would use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for fingerprint and facial biometric accreditation, alongside electronic result management systems.

He added that INEC had introduced the eEC8A electronic verification platform to complement its result management process and verification through the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

The chairman further said the commission was working with relevant security agencies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to ensure adequate security during the polls.

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 said the mission, which included Serigne Mamadou Ka, head of the ECOWAS Electoral Assistance Division, would evaluate the preparedness of electoral stakeholders and identify areas where the regional body could offer support.

Foh explained that the exercise was being conducted in line with Article 31 of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and Article 53 of the ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework.