….warns staff against partisanship
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan SAN, has said three phases of Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) had produced 10,772,421 new registrations, subject to Automated Biometric Identification System verification.
Amupitan made the disclosure on Monday in Kaduna at the North-West Zonal Interactive Meeting with Staff and Readiness Assessment for the 2027 General Election.
The Chairman called for the elimination of PVC distribution bottlenecks at the Local Government Area level so that eligible citizens would not be disenfranchised because of logistics.
He also disclosed that INEC was refining its technological systems, including voter verification and result transmission processes, as well as its Result Management Systems, including the recently introduced eEC8A.
Amupitan said the commission is also implementing a “Zero-Failure” approach to logistics, covering early deployment of materials, movement, security coordination and training of ad-hoc personnel.
He directed officials to close operational gaps, strengthen neutrality and ensure that no avoidable weakness undermines the credibility of the forthcoming elections.
The Chairman said the Commission was building on lessons from recent elections while preparing for the larger national assignment in 2027.
He warned electoral officials against partisan conduct and administrative negligence, stressing that the neutrality and professionalism of field personnel would be critical to public confidence in the electoral process.
Earlier In his welcome remarks, the Supervising National Commissioner for Kaduna, Mallam Kudu Haruna, said the zonal meetings were conceived to enable the Chairman and other members of the Commission’s leadership to directly engage staff across the country despite the demanding schedule and limited time available before the 2027 elections.
Haruna said the Kaduna leg of the exercise began with a courtesy visit by the Chairman to the Emir of Zazzau and Chairman of the Kaduna State Council of Traditional Rulers.
According to him, the visit provided an opportunity for INEC to brief the traditional ruler on preparations for the 2027 elections and seek the support of traditional institutions in mobilising eligible Nigerians to participate in the electoral process.
He said the Chairman informed the Emir that collection of newly issued Permanent Voter Cards would commence as scheduled and appealed to traditional rulers to encourage eligible citizens to collect their cards and exercise their constitutional right to vote.
Haruna expressed confidence that the Kaduna engagement would help the leadership and management of the Commission to further strengthen election administration ahead of the 2027 national polls.
Director of Planning and Monitoring, Helen Ajayi, said the purpose of the zonal exercise was to assess the level of preparedness of states and identify operational challenges before the elections.
She added that the sessions were also aimed at ensuring that staff across the zone remained aligned with the Commission’s Code of Conduct ahead of the elections.
