The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has urged the staff of the organisation to work towards credible polls in 2027, while seeking the support of traditional rulers at the grassroots level.
Amupitan noted that electoral credibility cannot be produced overnight through sudden rhetoric on the eve of the polls, stressing that it required urgency of preparation and operational rigor.
The INEC chair spoke during an interactive meeting with the staff of the commission in the North-central zone for readiness assessment towards the general elections in Lokoja at weekend.
Amupitan explained that engagement with the staff had become imperative in view of the ongoing preparations by INEC ahead of the 2027 general elections across the country.
He explained that electoral credibility is built through painstaking preparation, professional ethics, technological investment, robust staff welfare, and methodological advancement of administrative processes long before the first ballot is cast.
He urged the staff to be more professional, noting that within a short period the commission has conducted elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun seamlessly and conducted FCT Councils elections without major issues.
He said: “We gather here today in Lokoja to evaluate our operational standing and engage directly with our key personnel who uphold electoral integrity across this important zone.
“This meeting marks the strategic communication culmination of zonal readiness assessment tours, having systematically assessed across the country: South-west, North-west, South-east, North-east, and South-south.
“We are now bringing this vigorous engagement to this our dear Confluence City to conclude our nationwide zonal readiness circuit ahead of the election. Sunday, as we heard, we paid a visit to the Kogi State Council of Chiefs before holding high-level consultations on state-level preparedness.
“We are here specifically because the true electoral integrity is forged in the field across the 121 Local Government Areas and six Area Councils that comprise the six states of the North Central Zone and the Federal Capital Territory.
“They have handed over to us; we must also play our own part to have something that is better than what was handed over to us, to hand over to the coming generation. This is very important.
“Our physical presence here today in Lokoja represents that exact active commitment required of our generation to renew, defend, and fortify Nigerian democracy, ” he stated.
Quoting Alexander Hamilton, Amupitan stressed that true democratic integrity is preserved not by sudden impulse, but through steady execution.
Earlier, Amupitan had met with the traditional rulers from the 21 Local government areas of Kogi State , where he stressed the need for collaboration to ensure that INEC will not fail in its bid to conduct free, fair and credible general elections in 2027.
The chairman explained that the essence of meeting was to sensitise them on what is expected of them before, during and after the elections.
He added: “We also want to seek their support in ensuring that campaigns are issue-based, devoid of calumny, aggression and inflammatory statements.
“We appealed to them to encourage their subjects to conduct themselves properly and avoid being used as agents of destruction or violence.”
Ibrahim Oyewale
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