By George Mgbeleke <\/p>\n
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, on Friday formally released the Notice of Election and the full Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2027 General Elections setting February 20, 2027 for the Presidential and National Assembly polls, and March 6, 2027 for Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.<\/p>\n
Making this declaration at a press conference in Abuja, Amupitan said that the Commission was acting in strict compliance with constitutional and statutory deadlines, while dismissing earlier speculative announcements by political actors as \u201cmisleading.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amupitan backed the announcement in the 1999 Constitution (as amended), noting that the tenure of the President, Vice President, Governors and Deputy Governors except in Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Ondo and Osun States will expire on May 28, 2027.<\/p>\n
Membership of the National and State Assemblies, he added, will stand dissolved on June 8, 2027.<\/p>\n
According to INEC Boss,Under Sections 76(2), 116(2), 132(2) and 178(2) of the Constitution, elections must hold not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of current office holders\u2019 terms.<\/p>\n
The February and March 2027 dates, he said, fall squarely within the constitutional window.
\n360-Day Legal Mandate Met
\nINEC\u2019s action also satisfies Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022, which mandates the Commission to publish the Notice of Election not later than 360 days before the election date.<\/p>\n
With the February 20, 2027 presidential poll now fixed, the Commission has moved decisively to trigger the formal political calendar giving parties, candidates and civil society organisations a clear runway.<\/p>\n
President and Vice President
\nGovernors and Deputy Governors (excluding the eight off-cycle states)
\nMembers of the Senate
\nMembers of the House of Representatives
\nMembers of State Houses of Assembly
\nPrimaries, Nominations, Campaign Window<\/p>\n
According to the approved timetable:
\nPolitical party primaries will be held within the statutory timeframe prescribed by law.<\/p>\n
Submission of nomination forms will open and close within the designated window in the schedule.
\nCampaigns will commence as provided by law and must end 24 hours before Election Day.<\/p>\n
Amupitan issued a stern warning to political parties to strictly comply with timelines, stressing that INEC \u201cwill not hesitate to enforce compliance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The INEC Chairman acknowledged the ongoing amendment of the Electoral Act, 2022 at the National Assembly, describing it as critical to strengthening Nigeria\u2019s electoral framework.<\/p>\n
However, he stressed that until any amendment becomes law, the Commission remains bound by the existing legal framework.<\/p>\n
With the formal kickoff, political parties are expected to intensify consultations, coalition talks and internal power negotiations ahead of primaries.<\/p>\n
The early release of the timetable effectively starts the countdown to what could be one of Nigeria\u2019s most consequential electoral contests in decades taking place against a backdrop of economic reforms, fiscal restructuring and evolving security challenges.<\/p>\n
Amupitan closed with a call for peaceful conduct, urging parties to shun violence and inflammatory rhetoric while upholding internal democracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe success of the 2027 General Elections is a collective responsibility,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
For markets, policymakers and investors, the certainty of a defined electoral calendar reduces speculation risk and clarifies Nigeria\u2019s political timeline.<\/p>\n
For political actors, the message from INEC is unmistakable: the clock to 2027 is now officially ticking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, on Friday formally released the Notice of Election and the full Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2027 General Elections setting February 20, 2027 for the Presidential and National Assembly polls, and March 6, 2027 for Governorship and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[386,77,6107,2733],"class_list":["post-11047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-constitution","tag-election","tag-reduces","tag-speculation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11047"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11048,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11047\/revisions\/11048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}