…seeks Royal Fathers’ support for peaceful polls
From David Onuoja, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has concluded its nationwide operational readiness tour in Lokoja, Kogi State; ahead of the 2027 General Election, with its Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan declaring that nine of the 14 major statutory milestones in the election timetable have been executed.
Amupitan made the declaration on Friday, November 6, 2026, in Lokoja, Kogi State, at the North-Central Zonal Interactive Meeting with Staff and Readiness Assessment, which brought the tour to a close after similar engagements in the South-West, North-West, South-East, North-East and South-South.
He said the tour was intended to identify operational weaknesses before election day, ensure local challenges were reflected in national planning and prevent voters from being disenfranchised through administrative or logistical failures, adding that no staff should proceed on annual leave until after the elections.
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The Chairman said the 2027 poll will involve over 103 million registered voters across 176,846 polling units, with Presidential and National Assembly elections on January 16, 2027, and Governorship and State Assembly elections on February 6, 2027. He noted that the Anambra, Ekiti and Osun governorship polls, FCT Area Council elections and 16 bye-elections served as test grounds for the general election.
On preparations, Professor Amupitan said INEC was configuring BVAS devices, including 57,000 newly procured units, auditing electronic result management systems for transparent transmission to IReV, and had activated Printable PVCs and a digital PVC Location Portal, with the certified Register of Voters to be published on December 15, 2026. He also announced enhanced salary, hazard and field allowances under the new Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure, a 150 per cent increase in state overheads, and distribution of operational vehicles to state and LGA offices.
On security, he unveiled the intelligence-led “ICCES Tentacle” framework extending coordination to LGAs and Registration Area Centres, and warned: “Anyone attempting to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will face the full weight of the law”.
INEC boss also warned that partisanship, negligence, financial impropriety and absenteeism would attract swift sanctions under Section 26 of the Electoral Act 2026.
The Chairman had earlier visited the Kogi State Council of Traditional Rulers, where he appealed for support in PVC collection, discouragement of electoral violence and thuggery, and the fight against misinformation and AI deepfakes.
He also described Kogi as Nigeria’s ultimate electoral gateway, noting the North-Central zone has 15,448,869 voters, with Kogi accounting for 1,932,654, and commissioned a new BVAS storage facility in Lokoja to preserve the devices.
