Nigeria’s 2027 general elections should go ahead as planned despite concerns over Ebola, with health authorities insisting that there is currently no reason to postpone the polls.
The Director General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Jide Idris, said the country had no active confirmed Ebola case following the evacuation of the infected patient to Switzerland, but stressed that health officials must continue monitoring people who may have been exposed to the virus.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, October 26, Idris said postponing the elections was not currently necessary, although a widespread outbreak could raise public health concerns.
He maintained that decisions about the election timetable were beyond his authority and rejected suggestions that Ebola could be used as a political weapon ahead of the 2027 polls.
The debate comes as Nigeria prepares for another major electoral contest, with President Bola Tinubu seeking re election and opposition figures preparing to challenge the ruling All Progressives Congress.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has scheduled the presidential and National Assembly elections for January 16, 2027, while governorship and State House of Assembly elections in participating states are scheduled for February 6, 2027.
Calls for the elections to proceed have grown amid concerns that the Ebola situation could be used to justify restrictions on political campaigns, public gatherings or voter movement.
Social Democratic Party leader and presidential candidate Prince Adewole Adebayo has rejected any attempt to delay the elections or suspend political campaigns because of the outbreak.
Speaking at an SDP Presidential Campaign Council dinner in Abuja on Sunday, October 25, Adebayo argued that Nigeria could protect public health without interfering with democratic participation.
He pointed to Nigeria’s successful response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak, insisting that the country had experience containing the disease without putting its democratic process on hold.
The controversy follows the confirmation of an imported Ebola case in Abuja on October 20, involving a Ugandan woman who arrived in Nigeria after travelling from Uganda through Addis Ababa.
The patient was evacuated to Switzerland on October 26 for further treatment. However, health authorities have continued contact tracing and surveillance to establish whether anyone else may have been exposed.
The NCDC has reported that 54 primary contacts linked to the patient remain under surveillance. Three contacts who developed symptoms were tested and returned negative results, according to the agency.
Health officials have warned that the evacuation of the patient does not automatically mean Nigeria is free of Ebola, as monitoring and investigations must continue before the outbreak can be declared over.
The government has maintained that political activities and public gatherings can continue while the health situation remains under control, with any additional measures to be guided by scientific evidence and expert advice.
The Ebola response has also sparked a political dispute over the N10 billion approved by President Tinubu in June for emergency preparedness and public health response activities.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has questioned how the money was being managed and called for accountability. The APC Presidential Campaign Council has accused him of politicising the health emergency and claimed that the approved funds remained untouched.
The disagreement has intensified public debate about transparency, emergency preparedness and the possibility of the outbreak affecting political activities before the elections.
Nigeria successfully contained its 2014 Ebola outbreak, which recorded 20 cases, including 19 laboratory confirmed cases and one probable case, with eight deaths. The World Health Organisation declared the country free of Ebola transmission in October 2014 after the required period without a new case.
Health experts have urged the federal and state governments to strengthen disease surveillance, improve hospital preparedness, provide protective equipment for health workers and ensure that suspected cases are identified and reported quickly.
They have also advised Nigerians to avoid direct contact with the body fluids of infected people, maintain good hygiene and follow official public health guidance.
For now, the NCDC says there is no justification for postponing the 2027 elections. The priority remains containing Ebola while allowing preparations for the polls to continue.
With the election timetable approaching, the challenge for the government is to protect public health without undermining public confidence, political participation or the right of Nigerians to choose their next leaders.
