INEC has announced the kick-off date for the 2027 national 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.

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Tuesday broke his silence on his rift with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, disclosing that their fallout stemmed from Wike’s alleged declaration to “hold down” the Peoples Democratic Party for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.

Wike and Makinde were prominent members of the G-5 governors who opposed the PDP’s choice of Atiku Abubakar as its presidential candidate and Iyorchia Ayu as national chairman ahead of the 2023 general election, because both positions were occupied by politicians from the North.

Speaking during a media chat in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, Makinde said the relationship collapsed after Wike made what he described as a “shocking” declaration during a meeting with President Tinubu, which he said the President neither requested nor endorsed.

Makinde said, “The real issue was that I was in a meeting with the President. Wike, the President’s Chief of Staff and two others were also at that meeting. And Wike said to the President, ‘I will hold the PDP for you against 2027.’

“I was in shock. So we got to the veranda, and I said, ‘Wike, did we agree to this?’ The real issue is that Wike would like to support the President for 2027 – that is fine; it is within his right to do that.

But also some of us who want to ensure that democracy survive and we don’t drift into a one-party state, and we want to ensure that the PDP survive, he should also allow us to do our own thing. That is just the issue between Wike and me.”

But, the minister’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, slammed Makinde, describing the Oyo State governor as selfish in his political dealings.

Olayinka, in a post via his official X handle, accused Makinde of lacking loyalty to any individual or political party, insisting that the governor was driven solely by personal ambition.

Giving what he described as a rundown of Makinde’s political trajectory, Olayinka alleged that the Oyo governor joined the G-5 governors only to secure his re-election in 2023.

He further claimed that Makinde would, as he had allegedly done in the past, dump the PDP for another platform after the 2027 election.

Olayinka wrote, “Ibadan Gomina General has never been loyal to anyone or any political party; he is only about himself.

“In 2007, he left PDP for ANPP because he failed to get a senatorial ticket. In 2015, he left PDP for SDP because he failed to get the governorship ticket. In 2019, if not for the fact that he got the PDP ticket for governorship, he would have decamped to another party.

“In 2023, he joined the PDP G-5 governors to ensure his re-election. He is Governor Seyi Makinde, and surely, after 2027, he will be in another party.”

He also accused Makinde of working against Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, during the 2022 governorship election in a bid to remain the only PDP governor in the South-West.

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the proscribed group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to life imprisonment over terrorism offences.

Kanu stood trial for seven-count charges of terrorism brought against him by the Federal Government. Delivering judgment on Thursday, November 20, 2025, Justice James Omotosho pronounced the Biafran agitator convicted on all charges.

Despite the potential for a death sentence on counts one, four, five, and six, the judge upheld the law and sentenced Kanu to life imprisonment, demonstrating a commitment to justice.

He held that the prosecution had successfully established every allegation, while the defendant offered no credible defence and “deliberately refused” to challenge the evidence presented in court.

The judge added that the IPOB leader was “a person who cannot be allowed to remain in the company of sane minds,” while describing him as an “international terrorist.”

“I hereby sentence the convict to life imprisonment for counts one, four, five, and six, instead of a death sentence,” Omotosho ruled.

“With respect to Count Three, he is hereby sentenced to 20 years imprisonment without the option of a fine.

“For Count Seven, he is sentenced to five years’ imprisonment without the option ofa fine. To extend the mercy, I hereby order that the sentence shall run concurrently.”

On his decision not to hand the convict a death penalty, the judge cited a biblical verse that espouses the virtue of mercy, coupled with the fact that capital punishment is now being frowned upon by the international community.

Before the sentencing, the Federal Government, through its senior counsel in the matter, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), had asked for the death penalty.

“The punishment prescribed for the offences in Counts One, Two, Four, Five and Six, pursuant to Section 12H of the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act 2013, is death,” he noted.

“With all sense of humility, I say as a prosecutor that this court has no discretion in that regard.

“The only sentence Your Lordship can impose for Counts One, Two, Four, Five and Six is death, because the law empowers you to do so, and we expect that you will.”

However, the judge noted that even though Kanu’s crimes merited capital punishment, he opted for a life sentence to show mercy.