The Independent National Electoral Commission treated Saturday’s legislative by-elections across Gombe, Kano, Bauchi, and Delta states as a critical dress rehearsal for the 2027 general elections. INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan monitored operations from Abuja to stress-test technology, logistics, and field readiness ahead of nationwide polls.
Five legislative seats became the testing ground for Nigeria’s electoral machinery on Saturday, September 19, 2026. Rather than viewing the contests as routine local vacancies, electoral leadership positioned the multi-span polling as an essential operational audit. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced Saturday, September 19, 2026, as the date for five by-elections across four states, filling one vacant seat in the House of Representatives and four vacant positions in state Houses of Assembly.
Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), described Saturday’s bye-elections in Gombe, Kano, Bauchi and Delta states as dress rehearsals for the 2027 General Election, insisting that no electoral contest should be dismissed as trivial or routine. Amupitan personally presided over operations at the Commission’s National Situation Room at its headquarters in Abuja on Saturday alongside national commissioners and senior management, stating that every off-cycle poll offered the Commission an opportunity to test its systems ahead of the nationwide exercise.
Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Adedayo Oketola (also referred to in reports as Tunde Oketola), issued statements confirming that the Commission conducted four key legislative bye-elections covering five constituencies. Voting was scheduled to hold from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm in all polling units in the affected constituencies, with the commission urging voters in the areas to come out and participate in the exercise.
Constituencies in Gombe, Kano, Bauchi, and Delta
Voters across four states headed to polling units to choose new representatives. The elections spanned both federal and state legislative tiers, with INEC disclosing the affected constituencies in a post on its official X handle @inecnigeria:
- Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency in Gombe State (the sole federal constituency contest among the five elections)
- Dawakin Kudu State Constituency in Kano State
- Sakwa State Constituency in Bauchi State
- Disina State Constituency in Bauchi State
- Udu State Constituency in Delta State
In Bauchi State, voters in the Disina and Sakwa State Constituencies elected representatives. The Udu State Constituency in Delta State scheduled a fresh election, while Kano State held its fifth election in the Dawakin Kudu State Constituency. The exercise saw voters in the four states choosing new lawmakers to occupy seats that became vacant before the end of the current legislative cycle.
Technology and Logistics Under Abuja Surveillance
From the National Situation Room at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan oversaw operations. Amupitan spoke while monitoring the elections from INEC’s National Situation Room, emphasizing that the four legislative polls offered the commission an opportunity to assess its logistics, technology and field operations while identifying areas requiring improvement ahead of the nationwide elections.
The INEC chairman stated that the commission would not treat bye-elections as routine exercises, stressing that each poll provided operational lessons for the 2027 elections. According to statements provided by Adedayo Oketola:
“These four by-elections provide indispensable operational lessons for the Commission as we systematically chart our roadmap toward the 2027 General Election.”
Amupitan added that the exercises enabled INEC to continuously audit our logistics framework, stress-test our technological deployment, and evaluate administrative field readiness.
He stressed that:
“We must resist the temptation to view any exercise as merely an ordinary by-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.”
Broader Administrative Activities
Earlier on August 14, 2026, the commission announced the restoration of four additional State House of Assembly constituencies in Delta and Kogi states in a press statement signed by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Kudu Haruna. The restored constituencies included Abraka, Isoko North II, and Ughelli South II State Constituencies in Delta State, as well as Yagba West II State Constituency in Kogi State. Party primaries in those restored constituencies were subsequently held between August 21 and 25, 2026, ahead of the September 19 polling schedule.
