Follow Us on Google
• Threatens to blacklist transporters involved in delay of election materials
From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, has wielded the big stick, querying staff, electoral officials and threatening to blacklist transporters involved in the delay in arrival of election materials during the just concluded Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council election.
Amupitan read the riot act in his remarks at the meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) at INEC’s national headquarters in Abuja, yesterday.
He revealed that while some of the staff in Kuje and Kwali Area Council responsible for the logistics delay have been queried, the transporter that caused some delay in Kwali would be blacklisted.
He admitted that there was still considerable work to be done over the disturbing voter apathy to deepen voter engagement and confidence.
He said that every election is both a test and a teacher, but the FCT Council election and the state constituencies elections in Kano and Rivers states have once again provided the commission with reassuring, and sobering lessons.
He said: “Another area that requires frank discussion is logistics and punctuality. According to our Election Operations Dashboard, only 45 percent of polling units in the FCT opened by 8:30am. Although we achieved 100 percent by 10am, the initial delay is unacceptable.
“Let me repeat what I said at my meeting with staff: there will be consequences for any act capable of sabotaging the process and 45 percent opening at 8:30am is not satisfactory. It fell short of our standards. It undermines public confidence. And it will not be tolerated.
We have identified some of the staff in Kuje Area Council and Kabusa Ward in the Municipal that caused logistic delay and I have directed that they should be queried.
“In addition, the transporter that caused some delays in Kwali Area Council will be blacklisted. We are still reviewing our transport logistics model for effective performance. On the whole, voting took place in all the polling units despite the initial delay and the election was successfully concluded in all the polling units,” he said.
Appraising the commission’s outing, Amupitan said: “We commend the generally peaceful conduct of the FCT election in all the polling units and in Kano and Rivers constituencies. No violence was recorded during the voting exercise. We commend the security agencies for this feat. However, we must admit the ugly incident that occurred in Kuje Area Council, where the Kuje Central Collation Centre was invaded by thugs during collation and also at another collation centre in Kwali Area Council.
The ugly incident was squarely addressed, and the results were finally collated without much ado. You must continue to strengthen our engagement with security agencies and stakeholders in your state. Elections must be peaceful, not by accident, but by deliberate planning and coordination.
“I must not fail to mention the improvement we have introduced in our result management system. We have identified that the greatest threat to our electoral process is not even the voting at the polling units but the actual collation of the results at several levels. We have introduced some safeguards to the BVAS system which is to curb all manner of manipulation on the results that will be transmitted to IReV. The Presiding Officer is required to capture and upload an image of the completed Form EC8A to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and also enter the scores of each political party directly into the BVAS device.
“The BVAS system performs internal validation checks to ensure: the total votes entered do not exceed the number of accredited voters, the figures entered are mathematically consistent and over-voting is automatically flagged and cannot be finalised.
Other News
“This was tested during the FCT Area Council election and the Kano and Rivers states constituencies elections.
The results of the election were uploaded to IREV and were found to be correct. As we speak, an average of 97 percent of the results have been uploaded to IREV for the FCT Area Council election. We will soon embark on the review of our regulations and guidelines for the 2027 election.
“Despite the above safeguards, we received complaints of result manipulation after the FCT Area Council election, especially the Kuroko Health Centre polling unit in Yangoji Ward, Kwali Area Council of the FCT, which was alleged to have recorded 1,219 votes for a political party, despite having only 345 registered voters and 213 accredited voters during the election.
“After due investigation, it was found that discrepancies in the reported result were due to an error by the Presiding Officer while entering the score of the party. The outcome of the investigation necessitated the FCT REC to issue a statement on that incident and a few other cases where there were alterations,” he explained.
While urging the state umpires to take responsibilities in their states, Amupitan said: “Although there is no perfect election, I must make it clear to you all that Nigerians are looking to us with heightened anticipation and scrutiny, and I must emphasize that there is no room for error or excuse in this crucial process.
“As RECs, you are the commission in your states. The buck stops with you. You must strengthen supervision, ensure early deployment of personnel and materials, and hold your Electoral Officers accountable. We cannot preach efficiency and practice excuses.
“Similarly, reports of absenteeism and dereliction of duty, especially at our Local Government offices, have reached the commission. Let me be clear: we will no longer tolerate indiscipline. Any staff who fails to report for duty, arrives late without justification, or otherwise sabotages the process will face sanctions in accordance with our regulations.
“Colleagues, the road ahead is demanding. The governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun will further test our preparations. Beyond them lies the 2027 general election, which will be even more complex in scale and logistics. We must approach these tasks with humility and resolve. Humility to acknowledge shortcomings. Resolve to correct them decisively.
“Let us institutionalise post-election reviews in all states. Conduct honest internal audits. Examine logistics timelines. Review voter sensitisation and education strategies. Assess staff performance. Identify gaps in communication. Where we find weaknesses, let us address them now, not on the eve of the election,” he charged.
In his general comment, Amupitan said: “The credibility of the commission is built not on declarations, but on performance. Each polling unit that opens late erodes trust. Each staff member who neglects duty diminishes our collective reputation. Conversely, each transparent upload to IReV, each peaceful polling environment, and each satisfied voter strengthen our democracy.
“We have made progress. But progress is not perfection. As custodians of the electoral process, we must continually improve. That is our duty. That is our mandate. And that is our contribution to the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria,” he informed them.
In his update on the forthcoming general elections, he said that the commission will soon issue notice of timetable and schedule of activities, adding: “I must not fail to inform you that we now have a new Electoral Act, 2026. We had issued a Notice of Election before the new Act was enacted. The notice was issued under the old law. With the introduction of the new Electoral Act, we have to make some adjustments and issue a revised timetable for the 2027 general election.
“Mention must also be made of our Voters Revalidation Exercise. The Commission will soon embark on a thorough clean-up with a view to further sanitising and strengthening the integrity of the register ahead of the 2027 general election. This matter was thoroughly discussed at our Lagos retreat in January,” he said.
