RismadarVoice Reporters
October 6, 2026
The Independent National Electoral Commission has warned political parties, candidates and their supporters against violence, intimidation, hate speech and vote-buying ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, issued the warning at a strategic workshop for editors in Abuja, stressing that political ambition must not come at the expense of human lives.
Amupitan said the commission, working through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, had activated an early-warning framework to monitor political violence, thuggery and inflammatory rhetoric ahead of the polls.
He warned that political parties, candidates and their agents found to be inciting violence, disrupting opponents’ campaign activities or deploying armed thugs could face statutory sanctions and prosecution.
The INEC chairman also expressed concern over reports of firearms being displayed during political activities and alleged threats against electoral officials, urging political actors to exercise restraint.
Amupitan said elections should remain a peaceful democratic process through which citizens choose their leaders rather than become a source of violence.
The commission is also strengthening measures against vote-buying and illegal campaign spending.
According to Amupitan, INEC is working with the Federal Ministry of Justice, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit to monitor financial activities connected with the elections.
He said joint financial monitoring teams would track illegal campaign spending, while surveillance would be strengthened around polling units to detect attempts to induce voters.
Amupitan warned that political actors and agents involved in vote-buying could face arrest and prosecution under the Electoral Act 2026.
The INEC chairman also disclosed that Nigeria’s National Register of Voters had risen to more than 103 million following the conclusion of the three-phase Continuous Voter Registration exercise and biometric clean-up.
The three phases recorded a combined 10,772,421 new registrations, subject to the commission’s verification processes.
Phase I, conducted between August 25 and December 10, 2025, recorded 2,611,266 registrations, while Phase II, from January 5 to April 17, 2026, recorded 4,121,835.
Phase III, conducted between May 11 and July 26, recorded 3,867,997 registrations.
INEC said nationwide collection of Permanent Voter Cards would begin on Friday, October 9, 2026.
As part of preparations for the elections, the commission has acquired 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices.
Amupitan said existing BVAS devices had also undergone software hardening, battery optimisation and biometric calibration as part of efforts to strengthen accreditation.
He said the enhanced electronic result-management system would allow polling-unit results to be digitised, authenticated and uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing Portal.
The commission has also begun early procurement and distribution of non-sensitive election materials and operational vehicles to reduce logistical delays.
Amupitan said readiness assessments had already been conducted in the South-West and North-West, covering facilities, storage, security arrangements and logistics, with assessments in other geopolitical zones expected to follow.
On staff welfare, he said INEC had introduced the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure and approved a 150 per cent increase in operational overheads for state offices, effective July 1, 2026.
Speaking at the workshop, President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Eze Anaba, said public confidence would be critical to the credibility of the 2027 elections.
He urged journalists to uphold accuracy, fairness, balance and the public interest while reporting the electoral process.
Anaba also warned about misinformation, disinformation, manipulated content and deepfakes, calling for stronger cooperation between INEC and the media to ensure timely access to credible electoral information.
