The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has said that a possible postponement of the 2027 elections cannot be ruled out should the Ebola virus continue to spread across the country, stressing that public health would take precedence over the electoral timetable.
The Director-General of the NCDC, Dr. Jide Idris, disclosed this on national television on Tuesday.
He said the scale and geographic spread of infections would determine whether a postponement became necessary to protect public health.
“We hope the election will not be postponed, but if the thing (Ebola) gets wide enough, that might be considered,” he said.
“As of now, there is no need for that,” he added.
The remarks raise the prospect of a public-health emergency disrupting preparations for a closely watched political event.
Political parties and prospective candidates are already preparing for elections that are expected to begin in January 2027.
Idris expressed confidence that health authorities could contain the outbreak without disrupting the electoral timetable.
He did not identify a threshold of infections or geographic spread that would prompt officials to recommend a delay, nor did he outline how such a decision would be made.
He also rejected suggestions that the outbreak could be used to advance political interests, saying health officials would base their response on public-health considerations.
“We in the health sector will not use disease issues as a political weapon,” Idris stated.
“No government will use Ebola as a political weapon,” he said.
Idris said Nigerian authorities had been monitoring an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and had anticipated the possibility of the virus entering Nigeria.
International flights, population movements and traffic through ports of entry presented potential routes for importation, he said.
His comments underscored the limits of surveillance in preventing the arrival of an infectious disease, even when authorities have identified a threat overseas.
For now, Idris said, the focus remained on containing the outbreak rather than changing the election schedule.
