The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that it has no preferred candidate or political party ahead of the 2027 general elections, pledging to conduct a credible process guided by the rule of law and the wishes 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 across the country’s six geopolitical zones as part of efforts to ensure adequate preparations for the elections.
“INEC under my watch has no candidate and no political party,” he declared.
“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 2027 elections would cover 8,809 registration areas and 774 local government areas across the country.
He said the national voter register had exceeded 103 million, while the commission had completed nine of the 14 major statutory activities 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 display of the preliminary voters’ register.
On the technology for the elections, Amupitan said the commission would deploy 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).
On election security, the chairman said the commission was working with relevant security agencies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to ensure adequate protection during the polls.
Speaking on behalf of the ECOWAS delegation, Foh said the mission was part of the regional body’s efforts to assess electoral preparedness in member states approaching general elections.
He said the delegation, which included the Head of the ECOWAS Electoral Assistance Division, Serigne Mamadou Ka, would evaluate the preparedness of electoral stakeholders and identify areas where the regional body could provide 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.
