The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, has assured political parties and Nigerians that the commission will remain neutral and impartial throughout the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan gave the assurance on Tuesday while speaking at the National Peace Accord ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The INEC chairman said the commission had no preferred candidate or political party, stressing that its responsibility was to conduct elections in accordance with the law and ensure that Nigerians were allowed to freely choose their leaders.
“INEC has no interest in who wins or loses any election. The commission does not have a candidate, nor does it favour any political platform,” Amupitan said.
He urged political parties and their candidates to focus their campaigns on issues affecting Nigerians rather than resorting to violence, intimidation and personal attacks.
According to him, the 2027 election should provide an opportunity for political parties to present competing ideas and policy alternatives to the electorate.
“Let the 2027 election campaign be a marketplace of ideas, not a theatre of war,” he said.
Amupitan also called on political actors to present clear and measurable programmes capable of addressing the challenges facing Nigerians.
He said the electorate was more interested in solutions to pressing problems than political insults and personality-driven campaigns.
“Nigerians do not want insults; they want solutions. They deserve to hear clear, concrete, and measurable manifestos,” the INEC chairman said.
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INEC scales up preparations for 2027
Amupitan assured Nigerians that preparations for the 2027 general elections were already progressing, with the commission building on lessons and preparations from previous electoral exercises.
He said INEC was expanding its operational and logistical capacity to cope with the scale of the nationwide election.
According to the commission’s chairman, the exercise would require a massive temporary workforce deployed across polling units nationwide.
“I am pleased to report that our preparations for the 2027 elections are progressing with absolute precision. We are scaling our operational logistics to manage a massive nationwide ad hoc workforce of 1.4 million personnel across over 176,000 polling units,” he said.
The figures highlight the enormous logistical requirements involved in conducting a nationwide election in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.
INEC is expected to deploy personnel, electoral materials and technology across thousands of locations as part of preparations for the presidential, National Assembly, governorship and state assembly elections.
The commission’s assurance of neutrality comes amid increasing political activity ahead of the 2027 elections, with political parties and potential candidates already positioning themselves for the contest.
The National Peace Accord is traditionally aimed at encouraging political parties and candidates to commit to peaceful campaigns and accept the rules governing the electoral process.
Amupitan’s call for issue-based campaigns also comes against the backdrop of concerns over political violence, inflammatory rhetoric, misinformation and personal attacks that have characterised previous Nigerian elections.
With the 2027 elections expected to attract intense political competition, the INEC chairman urged all stakeholders to prioritise the interests of Nigerians and preserve the integrity of the democratic process.
