Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, and a delegation of senior commission officials are currently in Seoul, South Korea, observing the conduct of local government elections as Nigeria counts down to its 2027 general elections.
According to the INEC Daily Bulletin of Saturday, Prof. Amupitan was accompanied by National Commissioner, Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu; the Chief Technical Adviser to the Chairman, Prof. Dimis Mai-Lafia; and the Director of Training, Dr. Binta Kasim Mohammed.
The delegation attended the opening of the International Election Observation Programme IEOP, organised by South Korea’s National Election Commission NEC to coincide with the country’s Nationwide Simultaneous Local Elections running from May 29 to June 5, 2026.
The ceremony was held on Saturday in Seoul, drawing election management bodies, experts, and international observers from across the world.
The INEC team also observed early voting operations at a polling centre in Mia-dong, Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, gaining direct exposure to South Korea’s electoral processes and procedures.
INEC said the delegation’s participation was expected to deepen its understanding of emerging trends and global best practices in election administration, international observation, and electoral governance, in keeping with its commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s democratic institutions ahead of 2027.
In another development, Amupitan has asked security agents not to spare anybody found to be engaged in vote buying or vote trading.
He spoke on this while presenting the register of voters to political parties in Ekiti State ahead of the June 20 governorship election.
Prof. Amupitan, who said such persons should be arrested and prosecuted in accordance with the law, stated that vote buying has been one of the major problems facing the nation’s electoral process.
He disclosed that about 1,059,360 eligible voters will participate in the Ekiti governorship election and asked political parties to scrutinise the register and make their observations known within the window allowed by law.
