Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan (SAN), has called on traditional rulers in Ekiti State to support efforts aimed at ensuring a peaceful, credible and successful governorship election scheduled for June 20, 2026.
The appeal was made on Thursday during a meeting with members of the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers in Ado-Ekiti as part of INEC’s stakeholder engagement and readiness assessment ahead of the poll.
Professor Amupitan was received by the Chairman of the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers, represented by His Royal Majesty, Oba Joseph Adebayo Adewole II (OFR, JP), who presided over the meeting. The royal father offered prayers for a peaceful and transparent electoral process in the state.
Addressing the traditional rulers, the INEC chairman underscored the vital role of royal fathers in promoting peace and stability before, during and after elections. He noted that while electoral laws provide the framework for credible polls, lasting peace is fostered within communities through the influence of traditional institutions.
Amupitan disclosed that the Commission was conducting its second readiness assessment visit to Ekiti State, focusing on logistics, technology deployment and security arrangements for the election. He assured the traditional rulers that INEC was fully prepared for the exercise and sought their cooperation in safeguarding the state’s democratic process.
Providing updates on the Commission’s preparations, the INEC chairman revealed that 1,059,360 voters have been registered for the election, including 66,664 new registrants captured during the recent Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
He further stated that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) detected and removed 2,103 cases of double registration, helping to improve the integrity of the voters’ register.
According to him, voting will be conducted across the state’s 16 Local Government Areas, 117 Registration Areas (Wards), and 2,445 Polling Units.
Amupitan reiterated that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would be deployed in all polling units as the sole means of voter accreditation, stressing that INEC’s policy of “No PVC, No Accreditation, No Voting” remains in force.
The meeting forms part of INEC’s broader engagement strategy aimed at strengthening stakeholder confidence and ensuring a peaceful electoral environment ahead of the Ekiti governorship election.
