2027 Polls: Amupitan Assesses North-East Readiness, Warns Staff Against Partisanship

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The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, has urged electoral officials in the North-East to maintain neutrality, resist political pressure and prioritise security as preparations intensify for the 2027 General Election.

Amupitan gave the charge in Gombe on Monday, October 26, during a readiness assessment visit involving National Commissioners, Resident Electoral Commissioners from the six North-East states and other senior officials of the commission.

He said the exercise was designed to assess operational preparedness, identify gaps and address challenges that could affect the conduct of the elections.

The chairman said the nationwide assessment began in Lagos on September 7, covering the South-West, moved to Kaduna on September 28 for the North-West, and continued to Enugu on October 20 for the South-East before reaching Gombe for the North-East review.

“The true integrity of an election is not determined in the air-conditioned conference rooms of Abuja; it is forged in the field,” Amupitan said, emphasising the importance of personnel readiness, functional facilities and effective coordination.

He disclosed that the North-East accounts for 13,965,475 registered voters, representing 13.51 per cent of Nigeria’s more than 103 million registered voters, as INEC continues its data-cleaning exercise following the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise.

Addressing security concerns in the region, Amupitan said the safety of voters, election personnel and observers was fundamental to credible elections.

He said INEC would continue working with relevant security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to support effective election planning and security arrangements.

The chairman also urged staff to familiarise themselves with the Electoral Act 2026, the Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections 2026, and relevant operational manuals.

He warned personnel against political pressure, financial inducement, intimidation and ethnic bias, urging them to uphold neutrality, professionalism and proper documentation throughout the electoral process.


In his welcome address, Gombe State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mukhtar Gajiram Umar, said the state had 1,768,566 registered voters following the recent CVR exercise, pending completion of the Automated Biometric Identification System process.

Umar said Gombe had three senatorial districts, six federal constituencies, 24 state constituencies, 114 registration areas and 2,988 polling units.

He disclosed that recruitment of ad hoc election personnel had commenced following the activation of the INECPRES portal, while training for different categories of election officials was underway.

The state’s Information and Communication Technology and Voter Registration Department had also begun preliminary technical checks on equipment and infrastructure needed for the elections, he added.


Director of Planning and Monitoring, Helen Ajayi, said the assessment was intended to determine the level of preparedness across the zone, identify operational challenges and reinforce compliance with INEC’s Code of Conduct.

During the meeting, officials from the Voter Education and Publicity, Voter Registry, ICT, Human Resources, and Election and Operations departments presented updates on preparations and staff responsibilities ahead of the 2027 polls.

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