The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan SAN, has asked Nigerians to trust him to deliver a free, fair, credible and inclusive election next year. He recently had his say while speaking at Chatham House, London, at a dialogue held with the Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI) on the theme, “Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Democratic Trajectory and Regional Stability Beyond the Ballot.”
Vowing not to fail Nigerians, the INEC chairman admitted that the controversies over the 2023 presidential election badly dented public confidence in the commission.
He concluded by dismissing suggestions that his past legal representation in political disputes would affect his impartiality in 2027.
His words, “First, 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.
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.
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.
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.
My loyalty is solely to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act.
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.”
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