By Emmanuel Oloniruha
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has urged candidates and political parties to make their campaigns for 2027 general elections “a marketplace of ideas, not a theatre of war”.
Amupitan said this while urging political actors to embrace peaceful campaigns on Tuesday in Abuja during the signing of the Peace Accord by candidates contesting the 2027 general elections.
The accord involved presidential, governorship and National Assembly candidates ahead of public campaigns and rallies scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
Amupitan said Nigerians and the international community expected “a process that is credible and a campaign that respects their intelligence”.
He urged political parties to conduct issue-based campaigns in accordance with the Constitution, Electoral Act, party constitutions and published manifestos.
The INEC chairman said the 2027 elections required rigorous intellectual debates focusing on Nigeria’s economic, security and developmental challenges.
“Nigerians do not want insults; they want solutions,” Amupitan said, stressing the need for clear and measurable policy proposals.
He said voters wanted to know how political parties intended to drive economic growth, strengthen national security and expand infrastructure.
He also urged candidates to explain their plans for improving healthcare, modernising education and promoting teacher inclusion.
Amupitan particularly challenged presidential candidates and party leaders to lead by example by promoting policy solutions and respecting the rule of law.
He said: “Your supporters look to you for cues. If you speak the language of peace, they will act with peace.
“If you incite them, they will ignite. Tell the voters what you will do for the economy, security and education.”
He urged politicians to explain how they intended to achieve their proposed policies, reiterating his appeal for peaceful and issue-based campaigns.
“Let the 2027 campaign be a marketplace of ideas, not a theatre of war,” the INEC chairman said.
Amupitan also warned against digital misinformation, fake news, premature declarations of results and foreign information manipulation capable of triggering public panic.
He urged parties to restrain their digital media teams and spokespersons from weaponising falsehoods during the electioneering period.
According to him, recent data indicates an alarming resurgence of hate speech, toxic polarisation and coordinated misinformation.
He also expressed concern over personally driven political discourse and the increasing shift away from substantive policy engagement.
“As preparations for the 2027 general election intensify, we are witnessing a disturbing shift from policy-driven engagement,” he said.
He identified character assassination, identity-based provocation and inflammatory rhetoric as growing threats to peaceful political engagement.
“If left unchecked, this trend threatens to poison the public square, erode civil trust and ignite avoidable conflict across our societies,” he warned.
Amupitan urged political parties and candidates to internalise every provision of the signed accord and uphold its commitments throughout the electoral process.
He said doing so would help make the 2027 elections “a shining example of African democracy”.
The INEC chairman also stressed the importance of neutrality by state institutions, describing it as the bedrock of credible elections.
Reaffirming INEC’s neutrality, Amupitan declared: “INEC has no interest in who wins or loses any election.”
He said the commission was solely committed to ensuring a lawful, transparent, credible and inclusive electoral process.
Amupitan said INEC had spent the past eight months refining its technologies, improving logistics and training personnel ahead of the elections.
He added that the preparations were informed by operational lessons learnt from recent off-cycle elections conducted across the country.
He said: “As an electoral umpire, I make an unwavering commitment to you and the people of Nigeria.
“Our responsibility is to ensure the ballot is protected and the will of the voters is reflected in the final results.”
Amupitan, however, acknowledged that INEC could not deliver a perfect election without the cooperation of other stakeholders.
“INEC cannot deliver a perfect election alone. An election is a multi-stakeholder venture.
“We provide the pitch and the referee, but the quality of the game depends on the players,” the chairman said.
Also speaking, the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, cautioned politicians against inflammatory rhetoric, hate speech and disinformation.
Disu also warned against deliberately manipulating ethnic or religious sentiments for political advantage during the 2027 electoral process.
“A political campaign should be a contest of ideas, policies, programmes and competing visions for the future of our country.
“It should not be a contest of hatred, intimidation, ethnic mobilisation or violence,” the I-G said.
Disu, represented by Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, Umar Shehu, warned against deploying political thugs.
He said armed groups and criminal elements must not be used to intimidate opponents or disrupt electoral activities.
The I-G warned that acquiring, distributing or illegally using firearms and weapons for political purposes would be treated as a major security threat.
He urged politicians and their supporters to recognise that Nigeria’s interests remained greater than electoral contests.
“While elections are contested for political leadership, Nigeria itself must remain greater than any election, political party or individual ambition.
“Political power is temporary, but Nigeria is permanent,” he added, warning against sacrificing lives for political victories.
“No political victory is worth the loss of any Nigerian life, no political ambition is worth the destruction of our communities,” Disu said.
He further warned that no election was worth compromising Nigeria’s peace and national unity.
The I-G reaffirmed the police commitment to providing a peaceful, credible and inclusive environment for the 2027 general elections.
He pledged that the police would remain professional, impartial and strictly guided by the rule of law.
Disu also promised closer collaboration between the police, INEC, military, intelligence agencies and other law enforcement bodies.
He said the collaboration would focus on safeguarding the electoral process and protecting Nigerians throughout the election period.
(NAN)
