2027 polls will hold as scheduled, INEC assures

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, has assured the commission has no plans to postpone the 2027 general elections. Amupitan said preparations for the polls were already underway and the commission would stick to the approved timetable without making changes. He spoke on Saturday during an interactive meeting with INEC officials from the six South-South States in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The meeting also focused on assessing the commission's level of preparedness for the forthcoming elections. His statement comes amid allegations by some political parties that INEC was considering moving the date of the 2027 elections. Addressing Resident Electoral Commissioners and other staff members at the meeting, Amupitan maintained that the commission would conduct the elections as scheduled, stressing that its legal timetable remained unchanged. He reaffirmed INEC's commitment to organising free, fair and credible elections in accordance with the country's electoral laws. “Our statutory timeline is fixed. We will not change anything. The election must hold as scheduled. With the 3,736,434 registered voters for Rivers State, the state leads the South-South. By this, the commission will put more attention to what happens in Rivers State. It is your duty to ensure that no voter is disenfranchised because of operational failures. "Osun State elections gave us the confidence that we can achieve this despite the noise. It is good that we had a series of those elections before the general elections because we learn lessons from every election. We will conduct elections that will move the nation forward and not an election that will bring it down. "We want every part of Nigeria to be calm during the elections so that people can come out to vote. We will not tell them to take their PVCs and then will not guarantee their safety. It is the people of Nigeria that will decide the outcome of the elections and not AI or any algorithms.”