INEC says 2027 elections will proceed on existing timetable

Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission will keep the 2027 general elections on the existing timetable, Chairman Joash Amupitan said at a readiness meeting in Port Harcourt, rejecting claims that the polls could be postponed. Amupitan told INEC staff and Resident Electoral Commissioners from the six SouthSouth states that the commission would not alter its statutory timetable. He said the elections would be held as scheduled. The meeting was convened to assess preparations and identify operational challenges ahead of the polls. He said the SouthSouth region had 15,823,550 registered voters, including 3,736,434 in Rivers State, the region’s largest state electorate. Amupitan said Rivers would receive special attention during preparations and stressed that administrative or logistical failures should not prevent eligible voters from casting ballots. INEC had received more than 5,000 requests to correct voter details and more than 600 objections to the preliminary register, Amupitan said. The commission was addressing submissions before the final register is scheduled to be published on December 15, 2026. He urged the public to review the preliminary list and submit...