The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned politicians against heating up the polity ahead of the 2027 general elections, declaring that no political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, who issued the warning on Monday in Abuja at a stakeholders’ meeting, urged political actors to play by the rules and place national peace and stability above personal interests.
Amupitan said the agency had activated an early-warning system with security agencies to document political violence, thuggery and inflammatory campaign rhetoric.
“No political office in this country is worth the blood of a single Nigerian,” he told Editors at a workshop organized with the Nigerian Guild of Editors in Abuja.
Amupitan said parties or candidates implicated in inciting violence, disrupting rival rallies or using armed thugs would face statutory sanctions and rapid prosecution.
The Commission is coordinating through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, which brings election officials together with security services.
He also pledged an aggressive response to vote-buying, saying INEC would work with the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit.
Joint teams, he said, would track illegal campaign spending and monitor polling units, while offenders could face arrest and prosecution under the Electoral Act 2026.
“Democracy thrives on the clash of ideas, not the clash of weapons or the proliferation of hate speech,” Amupitan added.
The INEC Chairman said election officials in parts of the North-West, including Zamfara and Sokoto, had requested bulletproof vests and vehicles because of local security threats; INEC may provide armored vehicles for staff in flashpoints.
The Commission has completed readiness audits covering facilities, secure storage, security protocols and logistics in the South-West and North-West, with the remaining geopolitical zones to follow.
INEC said it has registered more than 10.6 million new voters across three phases of continuous voter registration between August 2025 and July 2026.
It has also acquired 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and introduced an electronic result form designed to upload polling-unit results directly to its public results portal, reducing opportunities for manipulation.
The Commission’s Chairman said a new consolidated salary structure for election-management staff and a 150% increase in state-office operating budgets took effect July 1, though implementation still awaits cash backing.
Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) President Eze Anaba said credible elections depend not only on ballots but on public trust in the institutions running them.
He urged editors to uphold accuracy, fairness and balance, while calling for timely access to verified information from INEC.
He warned that misinformation, manipulated content, deepfakes and partisan narratives could pollute the information environment, making closer cooperation between the commission and newsrooms essential ahead of the vote.
