‘Excellence Is Mandatory,’ Says INEC Chairman as He Warns RECs Over Poll Lapses, Unveils 2027 Plans
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash O. Amupitan, on Wednesday presided over a high-level meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), issuing firm directives following the review of recent elections.
The meeting, held at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja, provided a comprehensive appraisal of the just-concluded FCT Area Council and state constituency elections, while setting the agenda for the forthcoming Ekiti and Osun governorship elections and the 2027 General Election.
In a strong message to the RECs, Prof. Amupitan declared: “For INEC, excellence is not optional; it is mandatory.”
While acknowledging key successes, the INEC Chairman did not shy away from identifying shortcomings in the FCT, Kano, and Rivers States.
He noted that voter apathy remains a persistent challenge but highlighted improvements in result management. According to him, over 93 percent of Polling Unit results were uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) Portal by 2:00 pm on Sunday, with the figure rising to an average of 97 percent.
Amupitan also dismissed rumours of “voter migration” in 2026, clarifying that the redistribution of voters was part of the 2022 polling unit expansion.
“As part of that initiative, 6.7 million voters were redistributed nationwide from 12,000 congested units to 17,000 new ones. In the FCT alone, 580,000 voters were moved to 1,156 new polling units to ease congestion,” he explained.
He directed RECs to intensify continuous voter education and encourage citizens to verify their polling units via the Commission’s online portal.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the late opening of polling units, Amupitan revealed that only 45 percent of polling units in the FCT opened by the mandated 8:30 am, although all were operational by 10:00 am.
He described the initial delay as “unacceptable,” warning that there would be consequences for acts capable of undermining the electoral process.
Staff responsible for delays in Kuje Area Council and Kabusa Ward have been queried, while the transporter involved in delays in Kwali Area Council will be blacklisted.
The Chairman announced additional safeguards in the result management system, stating that Presiding Officers must now manually input scores into the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which automatically validates entries to prevent over-voting and mathematical errors.
Addressing a viral allegation of result padding at Kuroko Health Centre in Kwali Area Council; where a party was falsely reported to have scored 1,219 votes against 345 registered voters, Amupitan clarified that the discrepancy arose from a transparency error.
According to him, the Presiding Officer initially miscounted but corrected the figure openly, adjusting it from 122 to 121, and properly entered the accurate result into the collation system. While the process was deemed transparent, the incident highlighted the heightened scrutiny of INEC’s operations.
“You are the Commission in your states. The buck stops with you,” Amupitan told the RECs, warning that absenteeism or dereliction of duty, especially at Local Government offices, would attract sanctions.
