INEC bye-election lessons from Gombe, Kano, Bauchi and Delta will shape 2027 plans, chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan said after Saturday’s polls
On Saturday, 19 September 2026, Independent National Electoral Commission chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, told colleagues at the Commission’s National Situation Room in Abuja that the legislative contests just held in Gombe, Kano, Bauchi and Delta states offered vital INEC bye-election lessons for the 2027 general election.
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Prof. Joash Amupitan, joined by national commissioners and senior officials as field reports arrived, said no off-cycle poll should be treated as a minor errand.
A statement issued by chief press secretary Adedayo Oketola recorded the chairman’s warning that every contest is part of the road to 2027.
“These four bye-elections provide indispensable operational lessons for the Commission as we systematically chart our roadmap toward the 2027 General Election,” Prof. Joash Amupitan said. “We must resist the temptation to view any exercise as merely an ordinary bye-election. Every election is a critical component of our broader preparations for the 2027 General Election, allowing us to continuously audit our logistics framework, stress-test our technological deployment, and evaluate administrative field readiness.”
The Commission ran five legislative contests across four states: the Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency in Gombe State; Dawakin Kudu State Constituency in Kano State; Sakwa and Disina State Constituencies in Bauchi State; and Udu State Constituency in Delta State.
Results later showed All Progressives Congress candidates taking four of the five seats.
Allied Peoples Movement candidate Adamu Yakubu won Sakwa. In Gombe, APC candidate Kallamu Usman MaiJama’a polled 41,121 votes against 3,553 for the Labour Party.
In Delta, APC candidate Okolosi Ator scored 8,724 votes to 214 for the Peoples Democratic Party.
Those outcomes sit beside harder operational notes. Turnout was described as low in parts of Gombe and Kano. Bimodal Voter Accreditation System faults disrupted voting in Delta.
Bauchi State Police Command said officers arrested 47 suspects in Shira Local Government Area who were alleged to have posed as members of a state security outfit and were found with guns, cutlasses and sticks. Reports otherwise described the day as largely peaceful, with logistics running on time in most areas.
Prof. Joash Amupitan said problems spotted before polling day were handled early. “Our primary mandate in the Situation Room is monitoring and proactive crisis resolution,” the chairman said, adding that administrative and field difficulties that surfaced before election day were managed at source.
The remark was also an attempt to steady public confidence as preparations for 2027 gather pace, after earlier off-cycle contests in states such as Anambra, Ekiti and Osun.
President Bola Tinubu and APC national chairman Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda congratulated the ruling party’s winners and asked the Commission to fix shortcomings before the nationwide polls.
The presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for 16 January 2027, with governorship and state assembly polls on 6 February 2027.
Also read: 5,000 PDP members defect to APC in Ogun as 2027 race heats up
Scaling a quiet Saturday in four states to that timetable is the real test of the INEC bye-election lessons Prof. Joash Amupitan now wants written into logistics, technology and field command.
