Amupitan to electoral officials: We must confront 2027 election challenges frontally
Joash Amupitan, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has charged electoral officers (EOs) and heads of department (HODs) in the south-west to confront the challenges of the 2027 general election with greater commitment, discipline and preparedness.
Amupitan spoke in Lagos on Monday at the opening of the Southwest Zonal Interaction Meeting and Readiness Assessment held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja.
The meeting marked the first leg of the commission’s six-zone national tour to assess its operational preparedness ahead of the 2027 elections.
The presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while the governorship and state houses of assembly elections are slated for February 6, 2027.
The engagement brought together EOs, HODs, senior administrative staff and other INEC officials from the six states in the Southwest.
Amupitan said the tour was designed to give the commission’s leadership direct insight into the operational realities confronting its officials at the state and grassroots levels.
Declaring that “the 2027 general election is here”, the INEC chairman said the commission must confront the election “frontally”.
He said lessons from recently concluded off-cycle elections must be applied to preparations for the 2027 general election.
According to him, the Anambra governorship election, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) area council election and the recent Osun governorship election, among others, should be treated as milestones through which INEC can identify weaknesses, improve its processes and strengthen its capacity.
“Those off-cycle elections have provided us with the mirror through which we can see into the 2027 elections,” he said.
Amupitan said his decision to personally engage electoral officers and other field-level officials was deliberate because the success of an election is ultimately determined at the operational level.
“The true success of any election is not decided solely in the meeting rooms of our headquarters in Abuja. It is indeed decided in the field,” he said.
He urged the EOs and HODs to use the engagement to present the realities confronting them, identify operational gaps and propose practical solutions ahead of the general election.
The chairman stressed that INEC’s preparations must be driven by continuous learning and improvement, adding that challenges encountered during one election should inform strategies for subsequent polls.
Amupitan also commended INEC officials who participated in the recent Osun governorship election.
He said the public commendation received by the commission largely belonged to the men and women who worked throughout the election period to protect the integrity of the ballot and ensure that votes counted.
Earlier, Ayobami Salami, the resident electoral commissioner (REC) for Lagos, who welcomed the chairman and participants to the state, said the credibility of an election is built long before election day through early preparation, effective coordination, competent personnel and continuous assessment.
Salami said the readiness assessment must go beyond checklists to examine the adequacy of human resources, logistics, infrastructure, technology, electoral materials, security arrangements and stakeholder engagement.
He urged EOs and HODs across the Southwest to speak frankly about their operational realities, identify weaknesses early and share practices that could strengthen the commission’s preparations for 2027.
The Lagos interaction is the first in INEC’s planned engagement with officials across the six geopolitical zones as the commission intensifies preparations for the 2027 elections.
