Prof. Joash Amupitan, Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has urged electoral officers to discharge their duties with integrity ,warning there will be consequences for misconduct during the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan gave the warning on Monday in Lagos, at the South-West Zonal Interactive Meeting with staff on readiness assessment for 2027 general elections.
He said partisan leaning, administrative negligence and compromised ethics would not be tolerated, stressing that the integrity of the electoral process must be protected.
“Let me be unequivocally clear about the fact that partisan leaning, administrative negligence, or compromised ethics will not be tolerated.
“We will enforce our code of conduct, and every officer must understand that the protection of INEC’s institutional integrity is non-negotiable.”
The INEC chairman said electoral officers must remain neutral and administer elections without preference for any candidate or political party.
He said the Electoral Act reinforced neutrality by requiring staff involved in elections to swear an oath of loyalty and neutrality.
“When you take that oath, you are committing yourself to administer an election in which you have no preferred candidate and no preferred political party.
“The question should never be: ‘Who will benefit from this decision?’ The question should always be:
‘What does the law require me to do?’ That is the discipline that protects both the electoral process and the electoral officer,” he said.
Amupitan also cautioned electoral officers against improvising solutions where the law or Commission’s guidelines had already provided procedures.
“One of the recurring problems in public administration is the temptation to solve difficult situations through informal practices.
“In election administration, that temptation can be dangerous. Where the law provides a procedure, follow the procedure.
“Where the Commission has issued a lawful guideline or directive, follow it. Where an operational difficulty arises, escalate it through the appropriate institutional channel,” he said.
He said the credibility of the 2027 elections would depend significantly on the ability of electoral officials to faithfully translate the provisions of the law into practice.
“A beautifully drafted Electoral Act cannot by itself guarantee a credible election. A sophisticated electoral technology cannot by itself guarantee integrity.
“An independent electoral commission cannot by itself guarantee public confidence. The credibility of an election depends significantly on how faithfully the law is implemented by the officials entrusted with its administration,” Amupitan said.
He urged staff to know the law, understand their responsibilities, remain neutral, document their actions and protect the integrity of the electoral process.
“My simple message to you today is that you must know the law; understand your responsibility; remain neutral; document your actions; protect the integrity of the process.
“Remember that every administrative decision you make may eventually have to withstand public scrutiny and judicial review,” he said.
The chairman said the Commission had commenced preparations for the 2027 elections with emphasis on technology, voter registration, logistics, staff training and institutional integrity.
He said the Commission had registered 10,772,421 voters during the three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), subject to completion of the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) verification.
Amupitan added that the Commission also introduced printable Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), in line with Section 18(1) of the Electoral Act, during the recent Osun governorship election.
“Our goal is simple: no Nigerian who is eligible to vote should be disenfranchised by logistics. Every eligible citizen who registers must get their Card without friction,” he said.
Amupitan said INEC would also review its voter registration processes and address operational bottlenecks affecting PVC distribution at the local government level.
He said the Commission was refining its result management systems to ensure that the movement of results from polling units to the national collation centre remained visible and verifiable.
“We are refining our Result Management Systems to ensure that from the polling unit to the national collation centre, the journey of the vote is visible, verifiable, and validated.
“The recently introduced eEC8A is to ensure this verification,” he said.
The chairman described logistics as one of the perennial challenges of election administration, saying the Commission was working to improve its delivery chain ahead of 2027.
He said INEC would address challenges involving movement, early deployment of sensitive materials, security coordination, vendor management and training of ad-hoc personnel.
“We are applying a ‘Zero-Failure’ protocol. We are also working on ICT basic lesson tools to supplement our face-to-face training of Ad-Hoc Staff,” Amupitan said.
He urged Resident Electoral Commissioners and Electoral Officers in the South-West to provide frank assessments of their operational challenges.
The chairman said the recent off-cycle elections, particularly the Osun governorship election, had demonstrated the Commission’s capacity when operational discipline, technical competence and administrative integrity converged.
He, however, warned that the success of the off-cycle elections should not lead to complacency ahead of the nationwide 2027 elections.
“If Osun showed Nigerians what we can do, 2027 must prove to the world that excellence is our permanent culture, not an occasional coincidence.
“The success of the 2027 election will not be judged by the quantity of votes cast, but by the quality of the process.
“I demand from you nothing less than absolute neutrality and professional excellence,” he said.
In his welcome address, Prof. Ayobami Salami, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Lagos State, urged South-West states to critically assess their readiness and address operational gaps ahead of the 2027 General Election.
Salami said election credibility was not determined on Election Day alone, but built through early preparation, competent personnel, effective coordination and discipline in addressing challenges before they became crises.
He said the meeting provided a veritable platform for the leadership of the Commission to hear directly from those at the operational front lines.
“This gives us, as field commanders and officers, the opportunity to present the realities, challenges and opportunities within our respective states.
““It is also an avenue to look beyond what we have achieved and ask the more intriguing question:
“Are we sufficiently prepared for the demands of 2027, and what more must we do to ensure that we are?” he asked.
Salami said the South-West presented a diverse electoral environment, requiring states to assess their demographic, geographical, logistical, technological, security and stakeholder-specific challenges.
“Our readiness assessment must therefore, go beyond checklists. It must examine whether our systems will work effectively when subjected to stressors and realities of Election Day.
“We must critically consider the adequacy and competence of our human resources; the resilience of our logistics and infrastructure; the reliability of our technology and electoral materials.
“We must also consider the effectiveness of our security arrangements; and the quality of our engagement with political parties, civil society, the media and the electorate,” he said.
The REC said lessons from previous elections should translate into institutional learning and improved strategies, while situation reports from states should identify gaps, risks and practical interventions required before 2027.
The meeting was attended by electoral officers, heads of various departments and other senior administrative staff of the commission across South west zone.