The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has intensified its stakeholder engagements ahead of the June 20, 2026, Ekiti State Governorship Election. As part of these efforts, the INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, SAN, met with the Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday to rally community leaders behind a peaceful and credible electoral process.
Professor Amupitan was received by the representative of the Council’s Chairman, His Royal Majesty, Oba Joseph Adebayo Adewole II, OFR, JP, alongside other prominent royal fathers. During the meeting, the traditional rulers offered prayers for the successful conduct of the upcoming election, underscoring their commitment to stability in the state.
INEC Rallies Monarchs for Community Peace
Addressing the traditional rulers, Professor Amupitan emphasized that while the commission provides the legal and structural frameworks for polls, sustainable peace must be nurtured from within the communities. He urged the royal fathers to use their influential platforms to advocate for non-violence before, during, and after the exercise.
“While electoral laws provide the framework for credible elections, sustainable peace is nurtured within communities,” Professor Amupitan stated during the briefing.
He further explained that his visit was part of a second readiness assessment tour to evaluate logistics, technology, and security setups, assuring the monarchs of the commission’s absolute preparedness to protect the democratic integrity of the state.
Registration Cleanup and Voter Statistics Revealed
Providing a breakdown of the state’s voting strength, the INEC Chairman disclosed that 1,059,360 voters are officially registered for the governorship election. This figure includes 66,664 new registrants captured during the recently concluded Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
To ensure the integrity of the database, the commission deployed its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), which successfully flagged and removed 2,103 cases of double registration from the final voters’ register.
BVAS Deployment and “No PVC, No Voting” Policy
The election will be conducted across all 16 Local Government Areas, 117 Registration Areas (Wards), and 2,445 Polling Units in Ekiti State. To guarantee a transparent process, Professor Amupitan reaffirmed that technological safeguards will be strictly enforced without exception.
The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) will be deployed to every single polling unit as the only approved means of verifying voters. Reaffirming the commission’s uncompromising stance on electoral guidelines, the INEC Chairman reiterated that the policy of “No PVC, No Accreditation, No Voting” will be fully operational on election day.
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