Amid raging debate over the Electoral Act Amendment Bill before the National Assembly and agitations for real-time transmission of election results, the Independent National Electoral Commission has announced that the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on February 20, with governorship and state Houses of Assembly polls scheduled for March 6.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja on Friday, explaining that the early announcement of the dates for the 2027 polls is to demonstrate the commission’s commitment to ensuring that the electoral process is transparent, credible, and in strict adherence to the law.
According to him, the announcement was in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, which requires the commission to publish notice of elections not later than 360 days before the appointed date.
He explained that the elections will cover the offices of President and Vice President, Governors and Deputy Governors (except in Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Ondo, and Osun states), members of the Senate, House of Representatives, and State Houses of Assembly.
Amupitan reaffirmed the commission’s independence, stressing that the authority to fix election dates rests solely with INEC. He directed all Resident Electoral Commissioners, including that of the FCT, to publish notices in their respective constituencies.
He explained that party primaries, the submission of nomination forms, and the campaign period will proceed strictly within the statutory windows provided in the published timetable. Campaigns, he pointed out, must end 24 hours before election day as stipulated by law.
“In exercise of the powers conferred on the commission by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and the Electoral Act, 2022, and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, the Commission hereby sets in motion the electoral process for the 2027 General Elections,” the INEC boss added.
The Senate on Tuesday rescinded its earlier decision on the Electoral Act amendment in which it rejected the mandatory electronic transmission of election results from polling units to the INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IREV) after vote counting.
The upper legislative chambers consequently re-amended the Electoral Act to accommodate the electronic transmission of results. However, the provision comes with a caveat that, in the event of internet failure, Form EC8A will serve as the primary means of result collation.
Following the Senate’s approval of the amended Electoral Act, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio reconstituted the harmonisation committee to reconcile differences between the Senate’s version of the bill and the version earlier passed by the House of Representatives.
