2027: Reps summon INEC chair over election preparations

The House of Representatives has instructed the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, to meet with the committee responsible for overseeing elections within a week to discuss preparations for the 2027 general elections. The meeting aims to review measures taken to prevent disenfranchisement of voters in areas affected by insecurity and to examine INEC's readiness in areas such as continuous voter registration, management of Permanent Voter Card (PVC) distribution, election logistics, deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, the INEC Result Viewing Portal, personnel training, electoral security and funding.

The committee will also request an assessment of lessons learned from the recent governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states, as well as details on the commission's preparation, progress on voter registration, PVC production and distribution, deployment of election technology, recruitment and training of electoral officials, identification of areas facing operational and security challenges, budgetary appropriations, and funding gaps.

Minority Whip Mansur Soro and Deputy Minority Leader Abdulsamad Dasuki sponsored the motion, which was adopted during Wednesday's plenary. Initial requests had been for Amupitan to appear before the entire House, but Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu opposed this, stating that the committee responsible for overseeing INEC should handle the oversight.

Speaker Tajudeen Abbas clarified that while the House is not opposed to inviting Amupitan, the engagement should take place at committee level rather than during plenary.