President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated four new national commissioners and two Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to fill vacancies arising from the expiration of some officials’ tenures.
The nominations were announced in a statement issued by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, on Friday.
The nominees will be scrutinised by the Senate for confirmation, with Tinubu urging lawmakers to expedite the process ahead of the forthcoming general elections in January 2027.
The President also reappointed Dr Bala Bila as the national commissioner representing the North-East.
Aliu, Umar to replace Zuru, Adamu as INEC commissioners
Tinubu nominated Professor Mustapha Aliu to replace Professor Abdullahi Zuru as the national commissioner representing the North-West, while Bashir Muhammed Umar was nominated to replace Professor Muhammad Adamu as the North-Central representative.
The President also recommended Mrs Oluwatoyin Babalola, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun State, for appointment as the national commissioner representing the South-West.
She is expected to replace Professor Cornelius Ajayi, whose tenure expires on October 24, 2026.
For the two Resident Electoral Commissioner positions, Tinubu nominated retired permanent secretary Dr Samuel Akinjide Akinleye to represent Ekiti State and Zahradden Basiru Sanusi from Jigawa State to replace Professor Saidu Ahmed Babura.
INEC prepares for 2027 general elections
The nominations come as INEC intensifies preparations for the 2027 general elections.
- According to the commission’s revised timetable, the presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections will hold on February 6, 2027.
- The commission is also preparing for a large-scale deployment of electoral personnel. INEC plans to deploy more than 1.4 million ad hoc personnel, largely drawn from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), for the 2027 elections. This would exceed the approximately 1.2 million personnel deployed during the 2023 general elections.
The scale of the exercise is also reflected in the commission’s funding requirements. In February, INEC told the National Assembly it would require N873.78 billion to conduct the 2027 general elections, alongside N171 billion for its routine operations in 2026.
- The proposed election budget is significantly higher than the N313.4 billion released for the 2023 general elections.
- The funding request underscores the financial and logistical demands of organising the next general elections, which will require nationwide coordination, electoral personnel and operational support across the country.
INEC is also developing a real-time election readiness tracker to monitor preparations across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The system is designed to provide updates on logistics, recruitment and training of ad hoc personnel, technology deployment and other election-related activities, helping the commission identify operational gaps ahead of polling day.