The Independent National Electoral Commission has warned that delays in amending the Electoral Act could affect parts of the timetable for the 2027 general elections, even though the commission says it is fully prepared to conduct the polls.
INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan (SAN), raised the concern at the commission’s first quarterly consultative meeting with civil society organisations in Abuja.
He explained that INEC has already drawn up its election timetable and schedule of activities based on the current Electoral Act. However, he noted that any new changes introduced by an amended law could force the commission to adjust some of its plans.
According to him, INEC has submitted its recommendations to the National Assembly but must continue to work with the existing law until a new one is passed. He said changes to the law could affect some items in the election timetable.
The INEC chairman appealed to the National Assembly to speed up work on the amendment of the Electoral Act so the commission can plan with certainty ahead of the 2027 elections. He also asked civil society organisations to support calls for the amendment process to be concluded quickly.
Despite the delay, Amupitan assured Nigerians that INEC is ready for the 2027 polls. He announced that the commission plans to carry out a nationwide voter revalidation exercise before the elections, stressing that a credible voters’ register is key to free and fair elections.
He also spoke about ongoing electoral activities, urging civil society groups to encourage residents of the Federal Capital Territory to collect their Permanent Voter Cards ahead of the Area Council elections scheduled for Saturday, February 21, 2026. He said the PVC collection exercise in the FCT will end on February 10, 2026, and warned that eligible voters who fail to collect their cards risk being unable to vote.
Amupitan further called on civil society organisations to monitor the activities of political parties and promote peaceful participation, while cautioning against hate speech, vote buying, misinformation, disinformation and election-related violence.
Giving an update on preparations for the FCT Area Council elections, he said 1,680,315 registered voters are expected to vote in 2,822 polling units across the six Area Councils of Abaji, AMAC, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje and Kwali.
He added that 570 candidates will contest chairmanship, vice-chairmanship and councillorship positions. INEC, he said, has completed the recruitment and training of ad hoc staff and is finalising the configuration of BVAS machines for voter accreditation and result upload to the IReV portal.
The INEC chairman also confirmed that bye-elections will be held on the same day in Ahoada East II and Khana II State Constituencies in Rivers State, as well as Kano Municipal and Ungogo State Constituencies in Kano State.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has denied claims that the National Assembly is deliberately delaying the passage of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill. On Tuesday, the Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Adebayo Balogun, said the delay was due to legislative procedures and not politics.
Balogun said work on the bill is ongoing in both the Senate and the House of Representatives and expressed confidence that the harmonisation of the bill would be completed soon. He added that the Senate is currently considering the bill and that the harmonisation stage is expected to be concluded by next week.
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