Ahead of the 2027 presidential election, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Josiah Amupitan, has assured Nigerians that the commission will remain neutral and will not favour any candidate or political party.
Amupitan gave the assurance on Tuesday, August 18, at the National Peace Accord held ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Addressing concerns about the impartiality of the electoral umpire, the INEC chairman said the commission had no preferred candidate or political platform, stressing that its sole responsibility was to ensure a free, fair and credible election.
“INEC has no interest in who wins or loses any election. The commission does not have a candidate, nor does it favour any political platform,” Amupitan said.
He urged political parties and their candidates to conduct issue-based and peaceful campaigns, warning against turning the 2027 contest into a platform for hostility and violence.
“Let the 2027 election campaign be a marketplace of ideas, not a theatre of war,” he said.
The INEC chairman said Nigerians were more interested in practical solutions to the challenges confronting the country than political attacks and insults.
“Nigerians do not want insults; they want solutions. They deserve to hear clear, concrete, and measurable manifestos,” Amupitan, a professor of law, told the gathering.
He further assured Nigerians that the commission was building on its previous achievements while strengthening its systems and logistics ahead of the 2027 elections.
“I am pleased to report that our preparations for the 2027 elections are progressing with absolute precision,” he said.
According to him, INEC is scaling up its operational logistics to manage a nationwide ad hoc workforce of about 1.4 million personnel deployed across more than 176,000 polling units.
Amupitan said the preparations were geared towards delivering an election that would be credible, transparent and acceptable to Nigerians, while further strengthening public confidence in the country’s democratic process.
