The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has warned that elections cannot be regarded as credible if voters feel unsafe to participate, stressing that security remains central to electoral integrity.
Amupitan spoke on Friday in Abuja at the first regular meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) for 2026, attended by heads and representatives of security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
Describing 2026 as a particularly busy electoral year, the INEC chairman said the commission would conduct Area Council elections, bye-elections and off-cycle governorship elections ahead of the 2027 general election, a development that requires early planning, effective intelligence gathering and strong inter-agency coordination.
“As we approach the 2027 general election, public interest and expectations continue to rise. While the commission has finalised its timetable in line with the law, the scale and complexity of the elections demand early and sustained security engagement. Elections cannot be credible if citizens feel unsafe to participate,” Amupitan said.
He commended security agencies for their professionalism during the Anambra State off-cycle governorship election held on November 8, 2025, noting that despite the state’s history of election-related security challenges, the calm environment created by security personnel enabled INEC to declare a winner on the first ballot barely two weeks after he assumed office.
On preparations for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council election scheduled for February 21, Amupitan disclosed that the poll would involve 1,680,315 registered voters across 2,822 polling units in the six area councils.
He said INEC had completed the batching and delivery of non-sensitive materials, trained electoral officers and election security personnel, and commenced training of ad-hoc staff on February 6, which will run until February 15.
The INEC chairman also announced that a mock accreditation exercise would be conducted on Saturday, February 7, in 289 selected polling units across the six area councils, with details to be published on the commission’s website.
However, he cautioned that administrative readiness alone could not guarantee credible elections without effective security coordination, urging security agencies to maintain professionalism, particularly in identified flashpoints.
Amupitan further disclosed that bye-elections would be conducted on the same day as the FCT polls in Ahoada East II and Khana II state constituencies in Rivers State, as well as Kano Municipal and Ungogo state constituencies in Kano State.
Looking ahead to the 2027 general election, he revealed that INEC would soon commence a nationwide voter revalidation exercise alongside the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration, noting that the exercise would require adequate security for INEC facilities, personnel and voters, especially in volatile areas.
He stressed that the credibility of elections and the strength of Nigeria’s democracy depend largely on the ability of security agencies to secure the entire electoral process from start to finish.
Speaking on behalf of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and ICCES Co-Chair, the Director of Internal Security at the Office of the NSA, Mr. Hassan Abdullahi, congratulated INEC and security agencies on the successful conduct of the Anambra governorship election, describing it as a positive benchmark for future polls.
He disclosed that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), as the lead agency for election security, was already mobilising resources to ensure peaceful conduct of the FCT Area Council elections, the bye-elections in Rivers and Kano states, as well as forthcoming off-cycle governorship elections.
In his remarks, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, represented by the Commissioner of Police in charge of Elections, CP Abayomi Shogunle, reaffirmed the NPF’s commitment to massive nationwide deployment, assuring that adequate security would continue to be provided for INEC personnel, facilities and election materials.
