2027: INEC Chairman tells candidates to make campaign marketplace of ideas

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), has called on presidential candidates and political parties to conduct the 2027 General Election campaigns as a contest of ideas rather than a battle of hostilities.

He made the call on at the formal signing of the First National Peace Accord on Issue-Based Campaigns for the 2027 General Election.

The event was held on Tuesday at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

Amupitan said electoral contests in a constitutional democracy were not total wars but competitive job interviews before the electorate, urging candidates to let the 2027 campaign be a marketplace of ideas, not a theatre of war.

The INEC Chairman said Nigerians deserved to hear clear, concrete, and measurable manifestoes on how political parties intended to drive economic growth, strengthen national security, expand infrastructure, improve healthcare, modernise education, and foster social inclusion.

He described the signing of the Accord as a significant departure from the politics of character assassination, identity manipulation and inflammatory rhetoric, noting that Nigeria’s challenges were too great for the election cycle to be spent in the trenches of bitterness.

Prof. Amupitan said the Commission’s moral authority to demand decorum from political actors rested on its own administrative and technological preparedness, disclosing that INEC was scaling its operational logistics to manage a nationwide ad-hoc workforce of 1.4 million personnel across over 176,000 polling units for the 2027 polls.

He, however, warned that technological safeguards and institutional efficiency could not substitute for political decorum, stressing that a process compromised by incitement, private armed squads or digital disinformation would fail long before Election Day.

The INEC Chairman urged the candidates and party leaders to cascade the spirit of the Accord to their state supporters, local government executives, ward canvassers and grassroots supporters, saying leadership attained at the expense of public peace, institutional integrity or human life was a hollow victory.

He restated that INEC had no interest in who won or lost any election, adding that the Commission would remain an uncompromising and impartial umpire, ensuring a level playing field for all contestants.

In his remarks, the Chairman of the National Peace Committee, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), represented by General Martin Luther Agwai, said the Issue-Based Campaign Peace Accord was first established in 2019 to promote political campaigns and rallies based on issues rather than sentiment.

He said the Accord called on political parties and candidates to compete fairly on ideas, policies and programmes, debate opposing views respectfully, mobilise supporters peacefully, protect voters, respect electoral institutions and reject hate speech, incitement, and misinformation.

General Agwai said the National Peace Committee had, since 2015, facilitated 30 peace accords, comprising five at the national level ahead of the 2015, 2019, and 2023 general elections, and 25 at the sub-national level, alongside independent peace architecture established in 23 states.

He disclosed that the Committee operated an Election Security Information Hub, which monitors electoral offences and broader security developments and produces regular threat assessments to support early warning, preventive engagement and evidence-based decision-making.

He appealed to political parties, candidates, campaign councils and spokespersons to campaign on issues of concern to Nigerians, avoid the spread of false and fake news, promote tolerance for differences of opinion, and comply with the spirit and letter of the Accord.

The signing ceremony was attended by presidential candidates and running mates for the 2027 General Election, National Commissioners of INEC, Secretary to the Commission, national chairmen of registered political parties, heads of security agencies, and representatives of the diplomatic corps and civil society organisations.