INEC Boss: Nigeria Must Pay the Price for a Successful 2027 Elections

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has said adequate funding is essential to providing the security and logistics required for the successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.

Amupitan made the remarks on Wednesday in Owerri, Imo State, while delivering a goodwill message at the sixth Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers.

The conference was themed, “Developing a Nigeria Police Roadmap for Effective Management of Security During Elections.”

The INEC chairman said financial constraints could affect the ability of both the commission and security agencies to effectively carry out their responsibilities during elections.

He noted that although INEC’s funding is constitutionally provided as a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the commission’s wide range of responsibilities requires sustained financial support.

Amupitan said INEC conducts presidential, National Assembly, governorship and state House of Assembly elections, in addition to voter registration and the registration of political parties.

He also noted that the commission has the statutory authority to request the deployment of security agencies for elections and voter registration.

“Sometimes, it is not what you would like to do that you are able to do because of financial constraints,” Amupitan said.

He added that government agencies, including INEC and the police, often have to work with the resources made available through the budgetary process.

According to Amupitan, adequate funding would be particularly important for deploying electoral personnel and materials to local government areas, wards, registration areas and polling units.

He said security alone would not guarantee a smooth election if the necessary logistics were unavailable.

The INEC chairman said the commission had made security and logistics key areas of its preparations for the 2027 elections and was working with government and security agencies to address possible operational challenges.

He also stressed the importance of an accurate voters’ register, describing voter registration as a foundation of an inclusive electoral process.

Amupitan highlighted the role of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) in coordinating INEC, the police and other relevant government and security agencies.

He said the mechanism, which emerged following concerns over post-election violence after the 2011 general elections, now operates at the federal, state and local government levels.

According to him, the Inspector-General of Police participates at the national level, commissioners of police at the state level and divisional police leadership at the local level.

Amupitan said stronger inter-agency coordination would be necessary ahead of the 2027 polls, noting that the police remained the lead agency for election security.

‘There must be a cost’
The INEC chairman said lessons from recent off-cycle elections should guide preparations for the 2027 general elections, particularly in intelligence gathering, logistics and coordination among security agencies.

He said Nigerians expected an effective electoral system but should also recognise that achieving such a system required adequate resources.

“In Nigeria, we want the best. We want our electoral system to be 100 per cent. But sometimes we don’t ask ourselves the question: if we want the nation to be perfect, there must be a cost for it,” he said.

Amupitan urged relevant authorities to provide INEC and security agencies with the resources required to perform their duties effectively.

He also charged senior police officers to maintain professional neutrality, improve intelligence gathering and strengthen coordination with other agencies ahead of the 2027 elections.