The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, has asked Nigerians to trust his leadership to deliver free, fair and credible general elections in 2027, acknowledging that controversies surrounding the 2023 presidential election created a major confidence deficit that the Commission is still working to overcome.
Amupitan said INEC had drawn lessons from the 2023 elections and subsequent off-cycle polls and introduced operational and technological safeguards aimed at strengthening accreditation, voting and result management ahead of the 2027 elections.
He spoke at Chatham House in London during a high-level dialogue convened in partnership with the Kimpact Development Initiative, themed “Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Democratic Trajectory and Regional Stability Beyond the Ballot.”
Addressing concerns over public confidence in INEC, Amupitan admitted that the 2023 election significantly damaged the Commission’s credibility.
“First and foremost, let me speak about what happened in 2023, which resulted in a significant trust deficit for INEC, damage so large that the Commission has not yet fully recovered from it,” he said.
According to him, INEC has treated subsequent elections as opportunities to identify weaknesses in its operations and improve its processes.
Responding to a question on why Nigerians should trust his leadership ahead of 2027, Amupitan cited the conduct of the Anambra and Osun governorship elections, the Federal Capital Territory Area Council polls, the Ekiti governorship election and 16 legislative by-elections.
“Why must Nigerians trust me? Nigerians must trust me because, number one, I have conducted off-cycle elections, and observers agree that the recent election in Osun State marked a clear improvement.
“Every election is a lesson. The 2023 general election was a major lesson for Nigeria, and the Anambra election was another,” he said.
Amupitan said administrative reforms enabled results in Anambra and Osun to be declared the day after voting, unlike previous experiences in which some governorship elections took several days to conclude.
He identified insecurity, logistics and result management as three major areas of focus for INEC ahead of the 2027 elections.
According to him, a post-2023 review by the Commission showed that some of the most serious result-management problems occurred at collation centres rather than polling units.
“We found that the core problem of election result management and declaration in Nigeria is not even at the polling unit, it is at the collation centres,” he said.
Amupitan disclosed that INEC had introduced technical safeguards intended to prevent inaccurate results and figures involving over-voting from being uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing Portal.
“In 2023, there were instances of inaccurate results or results with over-voting being uploaded onto IReV. We have now devised a technical safeguard: if a result is not accurate at the polling unit, it will not go to IReV at all.
“The moment a result appears on IReV, citizens can trust what they see. By eliminating inconsistencies at the source, collation will become a transparent formality,” he said.
The INEC Chairman said the Commission considered introducing an entirely new electoral technology for the 2027 polls but decided instead to strengthen and upgrade its existing infrastructure because of the limited time before the elections.
Addressing problems associated with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System during the 2023 elections, including malfunctions linked to extreme heat and storage conditions, Amupitan said INEC was constructing climate-controlled storage facilities across the states.
He also disclosed that the Commission had procured additional BVAS devices and reduced the maximum number of voters allocated to each machine from 1,250 to 850.
Under the arrangement, polling units with more than 850 registered voters would receive multiple devices.
To test the upgraded systems, Amupitan announced that INEC would conduct a nationwide mock accreditation and voting exercise on November 28, 2026.
“On the 28th of this month, we will conduct a mock accreditation and voting exercise across all states of the federation to simulate the presidential election and verify that we have gotten both accreditation and electronic result transmission right,” he said.
On funding, Amupitan said INEC had received a substantial portion of its budget for the 2027 elections but was awaiting the outstanding balance.
He said part of the remaining funds would be used for the recruitment and welfare of ad hoc personnel, adding that the Commission had received assurances that the outstanding amount would be released before the end of November.
The INEC Chairman also addressed questions surrounding his neutrality following social media allegations linking his telephone number to a controversial account on X.
Amupitan denied ever operating an X account and said an independent forensic review had been obtained, while the matter had been referred to the State Security Service and the Inspector-General of Police for investigation.
He also rejected suggestions that his previous legal representation in political disputes could compromise his impartiality as INEC Chairman, maintaining that he had merely discharged his professional responsibilities as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria before his appointment.
“My loyalty is solely to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act,” he said.
“Every constitutional institution, including the Presidency, the National Assembly, and state governors, owes its primary loyalty to the Constitution and the rule of law.”
On allegations of irregularities in the voters register, including claims of an 85 per cent increase in registrations in a ward in Ebonyi State, Amupitan said the Commission had investigated and resolved the complaint in accordance with statutory procedures.
He noted that the Electoral Act provides opportunities for members of the public to make claims and objections and request certified true copies of the register.
Amupitan also urged Nigerian youths to remain actively involved in the democratic process while guarding against misinformation and disinformation.
“This country belongs to young Nigerians, and they must not relent in working for the Nigeria they desire,” he said.
“Misinformation remains one of the greatest threats to our democracy. Citizens must verify information before acting or sharing, and give our democracy the chance to succeed.”
Post Title: “Nigerians Must Trust Me” — Amupitan Vows To Block Inaccurate Results From IReV, Unveils Safeguards Against Over-Voting And Discrepancies By Naijaonpoint.