INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan says a new timetable for the 2027 general elections will be released following the signing of the Electoral Act 2026

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Joash O. Amupitan (SAN), has announced that the commission will issue a revised timetable for the 2027 general elections following the signing of the Electoral Act 2026 into law.

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Amupitan made the disclosure on Wednesday during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and at the swearing-in of Dr. Chukwu Chukwu-Emeka Joseph as the REC for Abia State.

Recently, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026 into law after its passage by the National Assembly.

Prior to the new legislation, INEC had scheduled the presidential and National Assembly elections for 20 February 2027, with governorship and State House of Assembly elections fixed for 6 March 2027.

However, some groups, particularly Muslim organisations, criticised the dates because they coincided with the holy month of Ramadan.

Amupitan explained that INEC had issued a Notice of Election on 13 February 2026 under the previous Electoral Act, as the amended law had not yet been enacted at the time.

With the new Electoral Act 2026 now in force, he said the commission must adjust its plans and publish a revised timetable in compliance with updated legal provisions.

Under the amended law, INEC is required to publish a notice of election at least 300 days before the date fixed for any election in each state and the Federal Capital Territory.

The INEC chairman also announced plans for a nationwide Voters Revalidation Exercise aimed at updating and cleaning the national voter register ahead of the 2027 polls.

He noted that the decision was reached during the commission’s retreat in Lagos in January.

He reminded RECs that the second phase of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), which commenced on 5 January 2026, will conclude on 17 April 2026, while the overall CVR process is expected to end by 30 August 2026.

The meeting followed the Area Council elections in the Federal Capital Territory and bye-elections in parts of Kano and Rivers states.

Amupitan described the exercises as largely peaceful and successful, although he acknowledged delays in the opening of some polling units, calling them unacceptable and damaging to public trust.

He assured that any staff or logistical lapses would be investigated and those found culpable could face sanctions.

He also called for closer cooperation with security agencies to address challenges observed at certain collation centres.

Highlighting improvements to INEC’s result management system, Amupitan said new safeguards have been integrated into the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

Presiding officers are now required to upload images of completed Form EC8A to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and enter party scores directly into the BVAS device.

The system automatically verifies that total votes do not exceed accredited voters and flags any instances of over-voting or discrepancies before results can be finalised.

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According to him, the enhanced system was tested during the FCT Area Council elections and the recent bye-elections in Kano and Rivers, with approximately 97 per cent of FCT results already uploaded to IReV without discrepancies.