INEC Announce Dates For 2027 Presidential, Governorship Elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the dates for the 2027 national elections. This was made known to the public in a press conference by the commission’s chairman, Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN.

INEC, following the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, which requires the commission to publish notice of elections not later than 360 days before the appointed date, has announced February and March as dates for national elections in 2027.

Speaking at the press conference Prof Amupitan stated that the tenure of the President, Vice-President, Governors, and Deputy Governors, except in Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, and Ondo States, will lapse on 28 May 2027. Membership of the National and State Assemblies will dissolve on 8 June 2027.

The presidential and national elections will take place on February 20, 2027, while the governorship and state House of Assembly elections will take place on March 6, 2027.

INEC will be having another busy year as Nigerians will be heading to the polls to choose new leaders across the national and state political positions.

Next year, the commission will be led by Professor Joash Amupitan SAN, who was sworn in by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on October 23, 2025, on a 5-year tenure after the end of the two terms of Professor Yakubu Mahmood.

INEC is again under heavy public scrutiny, especially the position of its chairman, who has come under fire from different Islamic organisations who have called for his resignation over his previous statement alleged made against the muslim population.

The commission will be conducting the national elections on a budget of ₦873 billion. From the huge budget, ₦379.75 billion will cater to operating costs,  ₦92.32 billion for adminstrative cost, while ₦209.21 billion will go to financing the technological costs. Other costs include Election capital costs, which will gulp ₦154.91billion while ₦42.61 billion will cover miscellaneous expenses.

As the election date draws closer, Nigerians have debated the Electoral Amendment Bill with specific interest in the electronic transmission of votes, which has drawn heated debate in the National Assembly.

Speaking on the bill, the commission’s chairman stated that INEC understands the necessity to enhance the electoral framework to strengthen electoral integrity to reflect societal realities and deliver free and fair elections. He also added that INEC’s conduct is currently guided by the existing electoral act.

Nigerians will have their eyes on INEC, whose capacity to conduct free and fair elections will be scrutinised, especially after the winner of the 2023 presidential election was unceremoniously announced in the middle of the night at 4AM.

The presidential election is going to dominate headlines as Nigerians will be exercising their constitutional right to elect a leader on a four-year mandate.

The incumbent Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) would be hoping to retain residence at the Aso Rock villa for another four years after he won the 2023 presidential elections with 8,794,726 votes. So far, Tinubu’s four-year tenure has been spent executing what he tags “painful but necessary” reforms like the removal of the fuel subsidy, which he unceremoniously announced during his swearing-in ceremony.

Tinubu and his vice president, Kashim Shettima, are all but certain to receive the APC presidential nomination, but they will be faced with a strong task of convincing Nigerians on why they deserve another four years running the country.

In the 2023 presidential election, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) finished second with 6,984,520 while Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) finished third with 6,101,533 votes. Both of them have since dumped their respective parties to become members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

While the ADC is shaping up to be the leading opposition party in the run-up to the 2027 presidential election, its chances at the poll will be greatly determined by whoever emerges as its presidential nominee and the management of the potential fallout.