The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that it has no preferred candidate or political party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, stated this on Friday during a meeting in Abuja with the pre-election fact-finding mission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by former Sierra Leone Vice-President Victor Bockarie Foh.
Amupitan said the commission was conducting a readiness assessment across the country’s geopolitical zones as part of preparations for the 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.”
He disclosed that the elections would cover 8,809 registration areas across the country’s 774 local government areas, while the national voter register had surpassed 103 million.
According to him, INEC has completed nine of the 14 major statutory milestones outlined in its revised election timetable.
He said the commission had also concluded three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise and completed the nationwide physical display of the preliminary voter register.
Amupitan added that INEC would deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for fingerprint and facial biometric accreditation, alongside electronic result management systems.
He said the commission had introduced the eEC8A electronic verification platform to complement result management and verification through the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
On election security, the chairman said INEC was working with relevant security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to ensure adequate protection 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 readiness of electoral stakeholders and identify areas where ECOWAS could provide support.
Foh added that the mission 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.
