INEC Assesses North-East Readiness for 2027 General Election in Gombe
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has intensified preparations for the 2027 General Election, with its Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, leading a readiness assessment visit to Gombe State to evaluate operational preparedness and address challenges facing election officials across the North-East.
The assessment brought together National Commissioners, Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) from the six North-East states and other senior officials of the Commission for an interactive session on preparations for the forthcoming elections.
Speaking at the meeting, Amupitan said the visit was part of the Commission’s strategy to engage directly with electoral personnel nationwide, assess operational readiness, identify gaps and strengthen preparations ahead of the polls.
He explained that the nationwide assessment began in Lagos on September 7, 2026, covering the South-West, continued in Kaduna on September 28 for the North-West, and proceeded to Enugu on October 20 for the South-East before arriving in Gombe on October 26 for the North-East assessment.
The INEC chairman stressed that direct engagement with officials responsible for implementing electoral plans at the grassroots was essential to ensuring credible elections.
“The true integrity of an election is not determined in the air-conditioned conference rooms of Abuja; it is forged in the field,” he said.
Amupitan noted that electoral credibility depended on the preparedness of personnel, the functionality of operational facilities and effective coordination of election activities.
He disclosed that the North-East had 13,965,475 registered voters, representing 13.51 per cent of Nigeria’s total registered voter population of more than 103 million, as the Commission continued its data-cleaning exercise following the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
In his welcome address, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Gombe State, Mukhtar Gajiram Umar, outlined the state’s electoral structure and ongoing preparations for the 2027 General Election.
Umar said Gombe State had three senatorial districts, six federal constituencies, 24 state constituencies, 114 registration areas and 2,988 polling units.
He put the state’s registered voter population at 1,768,566 following the recently concluded CVR exercise, pending the completion of the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) process.
The REC disclosed that recruitment of ad hoc election personnel had commenced following the activation of the INECPRES portal, while training for different categories of election officials was also underway.
He added that the ICT and Voter Registration Department had begun preliminary technical checks on equipment and infrastructure required for the elections.
According to him, the checks were aimed at identifying technical challenges, assessing the condition of election equipment and ensuring that the necessary information and communication technology infrastructure was available and functional before election day.
On security, Amupitan said the safety of voters, election personnel and observers remained fundamental to the credibility of the electoral process.
He stressed that effective election planning required adequate security arrangements and reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to working with relevant security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The INEC chairman urged electoral officials to familiarise themselves with the Electoral Act 2026, the Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections 2026, and relevant operational manuals.
He also charged staff to uphold neutrality and professionalism, resist political pressure, financial inducement, intimidation and ethnic bias, and ensure that all electoral activities were properly documented.
The Director of Planning and Monitoring, Helen Ajayi, said the zonal assessment was designed to determine the level of preparedness across the states and identify operational challenges that could affect the conduct of the 2027 elections.
She added that the exercise would reinforce compliance with the Commission’s Code of Conduct and ensure that electoral personnel understood their responsibilities ahead of the polls.
During the session, directors and representatives of the Voter Education and Publicity, Voter Registry, ICT, Human Resources, and Election and Operations departments made presentations on their respective areas of responsibility, outlining preparations and expectations for staff ahead of the general election.
INEC Assesses North-East Readiness for 2027 General Election in Gombe