Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has explained why the commission appealed recent Federal High Court judgments on election time table, saying it is to seek authoritative pronouncements from the appellate courts to eliminate uncertainty in the electoral process.
The INEC chairman who spoke at the INEC second quarterly consultative meeting with leaders of political parties in Abuja on Tuesday expressed concern over the growing number of court cases involving the leadership of political parties in the recent primary elections.
He described the disputes as avoidable distractions urging parties to resolve their internal disputes in the interest of democratic stability.
Prof Amupitan maintained that the commission’s timetable is designed to accommodate interconnected activities such as party primaries, candidate nominations, verification of membership registers, printing of ballot papers, deployment of election materials and configuration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
The INEC chairman further urged apolitical parties to prepare for the candidate nomination phase, announcing that access codes for the commission’s Candidate Nomination Portal would be issued to parties on June 26 and assured that the commission is intensifying preparations for the 2027 general election and upcoming off-cycle polls, stressing that early engagement with political parties was necessary to address emerging challenges and strengthen confidence in the electoral process.
He disclosed that preparations for the June 20 Ekiti State governorship election were on course, with a total of 1,059,360 registered voters expected to participate in the poll.
He also said the commission would conduct bye-elections on the same day in Enugu North, Nasarawa North, Rivers South East and Ondo South senatorial districts, as well as Dawakin Kudu/Warawa Federal Constituency in Kano State and Zuru State Constituency in Kebbi State.
The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) blamed the challenges witnessed during political parties’ primaries for the 2027 general elections on provisions of the Electoral Act 2026, saying the law forced parties into adopting flawed nomination processes.
IPAC National Chairman, Dr Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, said the exclusion of indirect primaries from the Electoral Act created legal, administrative and operational difficulties for political parties across the country.
