The House of Representatives has resolved that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, should appear before its Committee on Electoral Matters within the next seven legislative days to answer for the Commission’s state of readiness for the 2027 General Elections, rather than brief the House at plenary.
The decision followed a motion by Hon. Mansur Manu Soro (APC, Bauchi) and Hon. Abdussamad Dasuki (ADC, Sokoto), Deputy Minority Leader of the House, at the sitting of Wednesday, 28th October 2026 on the need for a comprehensive assessment of INEC’s preparedness.
Leading the debate, Hon. Dasuki acknowledged INEC’s continuing efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s electoral system, but maintained that the legislature bears a constitutional responsibility to ensure that institutions entrusted with critical national assignments are adequately prepared, properly funded and fully accountable in the discharge of their duties. Sustained legislative engagement, he argued, is necessary to guarantee free, fair, credible, inclusive and peaceful elections.
The motion drew lawmakers’ attention to reports from continuous voter registration centres across the country documenting inadequate registration equipment, limited staff, network problems, prolonged waiting times and rising demand from citizens seeking to register or update their voter records. Hon. Dasuki observed that these difficulties fall most heavily on first-time voters, rural citizens, persons with disabilities, students and workers, limiting their access to registration and threatening the participation of eligible voters unless addressed in good time.
The sponsors further noted that early institutional preparedness is crucial to the timely procurement of election materials, the deployment of technology, the recruitment and training of personnel, voter education, security planning, electoral risk assessment and nationwide logistics. Any delay in closing existing gaps in registration, logistics, technology and funding, the House warned, could erode public confidence in the electoral process and compromise the peaceful conduct of the elections.
The House directed that the engagement cover the Commission’s readiness across continuous voter registration, permanent voter card management, election logistics, technology deployment — including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing portal (IRev) — personnel training, electoral security, risk assessment strategies and budget implementation.
The Chairman is also to provide a detailed status report on national election readiness, covering the progress of continuous voter registration, the status of PVC production and distribution, the readiness of election technology and logistics, the mapping of challenging areas, the recruitment and training of election officials, and budgetary appropriations — including funds released, outstanding releases, and the implications of any funding gaps for implementation timelines.
