Posted by Chinenye on Tue 06th Oct, 2026 - tori.ng
INEC has sent a strong warning to politicians ahead of the 2027 election, saying anyone who uses violence, threats or money to influence voters will face serious action.
(Professor Joash Amupitan. Photo by Channels Tv)
The Independent National Electoral Commission has warned politicians that no ambition is worth the blood of Nigerians.
It promised arrests, sanctions and prosecution for parties, candidates and agents who turn to violence, hate speech and vote-buying during the 2027 general election.
INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan said this in Abuja at a workshop for editors organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors with the commission.
He told all parties, candidates and campaign managers that INEC will not stand by while political competition turns into violence, intimidation or inflammatory talk.
He said democracy thrives on the clash of ideas, not weapons or hate speech.
Amupitan said the commission has set up a way to track offenders.
Through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, an early-warning system has been started to log incidents of political violence, thuggery and dangerous campaign talk.
Any party or candidate found inciting violence, disrupting rivals' rallies or using armed thugs will face sanctions and quick prosecution.
Speaking off his prepared speech, he said he had just been shown evidence of the very conduct he was warning about.
He said an NDC candidate in Kano State was seen campaigning with a gun in his hands, and that another person was threatening to kill everyone in the commission with AK-47s.
He lamented that this is what elections have turned into in Nigeria today.
On vote-buying, he said INEC is taking an uncompromising stance ahead of 2027, because the ballot box is badly compromised when a vote is treated as something to sell.
The commission is working with the Federal Ministry of Justice, the EFCC, the ICPC and the NFIU.
He also urged restraint and asked Nigerians to be patriotic, since elections come every four years.
On the voter register, Amupitan said the three phases of Continuous Voter Registration added more than 10.6 million new voters.
Phase I, from August 25 to December 10, 2025, registered 2,611,266. Phase II, from January 5 to April 17, 2026, registered 4,121,835.
Phase III, from May 11 to July 26, 2026, registered 3,867,997.
He said INEC has acquired 57,000 new BVAS devices.
The improved eEC8A system digitises polling unit result sheets, secures them with cryptographic authentication and uploads them straight to the IReV portal.
He said it will stop vote manipulation at the polling unit before figures are entered into the BVAS and sent to IReV.
On staff safety, he said staff in Zamfara, Sokoto and other states asked for bulletproof vests and vehicles at the North-West zonal engagement in Kaduna because of insecurity.
INEC may get bulletproof vehicles for staff in flashpoints.
It has finished readiness audits and staff engagements in the South-West and North-West, covering state office facilities, safe storage, security command plans and logistics, and the other four zones will follow.
On welfare, he said the commission has introduced a new salary structure and a 150 per cent rise in state office operational overheads from July 1, 2026.
He said INEC is working on the cash backing for immediate implementation.
NGE President Eze Anaba said elections are about trust, and that citizens must believe their votes will count.
He said editors decide to a large extent what information reaches the public, so they must uphold accuracy, fairness and balance.
He added that the media needs credible and timely information from INEC, and that in an environment filled with misinformation, deepfakes and partisan narratives, the relationship between INEC and the media must be built on openness, mutual respect and regular engagement.