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The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, has reassured Nigerians that the commission has resolved to uphold electoral integrity in next year’s general elections.
He gave the assurance while presiding over operations at the commission’s National Situation Room at its headquarters in Abuja, during the multiple by-elections in four states of Gombe, Kano, Bauchi and Delta on Saturday.
His response was apparently targeted at dismissing the speculation linking him with a recent foreign trip to plot the rigging of the 2027 presidential election with leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the presidency and other stakeholders.
While making the promise, Amupitan expressed happiness that operational bottlenecks encountered before polling were swiftly identified and resolved.
Amupitan in a statement e-signed by his Chief Press Secretary (CPS)/Media Adviser, Adedayo Oketola, noted: “Our primary mandate in the Situation Room is monitoring and proactive crisis resolution. Whatever administrative or field challenges arose before the day of the elections, the commission was able to nip them in the bud effectively.”
“We remain committed to refining our processes so that every subsequent exercise reflects higher standards of efficiency and public confidence,” he reassured.
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He said that as preparations gather momentum ahead of the 2027 general elections, the by-elections across the states are a crucial operational benchmark for testing the nation’s electoral infrastructure.
While emphasising that no electoral contest should be dismissed as trivial or routine, Amupitan asserted that every off-cycle poll served as an important dress rehearsal for nationwide elections.
“These four by-elections provide indispensable operational lessons for the Commission as we systematically chart our roadmap toward the 2027 General Election.”
“We must resist the temptation to view any exercise as merely an ordinary by-election. Every election is a critical component of our broader preparations for the 2027 general elections, allowing us to continuously audit our logistics framework, stress-test our technological deployment, and evaluate administrative field readiness,” he said.
Accompanied by National Commissioners and senior management officials to monitor the by-elections as operational reports arrived from the field, the electoral umpire boss thanked everyone present in the Situation Room, especially the technical team, for ensuring that the commission was able to monitor the multi-state exercise seamlessly and assess the field performance without any hitch.
The commission conducted four key legislative by-elections in the Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency in Gombe State, Dawakin Kudu State Constituency in Kano State, Sakwa and Disina State Constituencies in Bauchi State and Udu State Constituency in Delta State.
