General News
2027 Polls: INEC Chairman Warns Funding Gaps Could Undermine Election Security
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has warned that inadequate funding could affect the security and logistics required for the successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan spoke on Wednesday in Owerri, Imo State, at the sixth Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers, organised around the theme, “Developing a Nigeria Police Roadmap for Effective Management of Security During Elections.”
According to the INEC chairman, election security goes beyond the deployment of police and other security personnel, as adequate funding is also required to move electoral officials, materials and security personnel to polling locations across the country.
He said INEC’s responsibilities extended beyond the conduct of general elections to include voter registration and political party registration, as well as elections for the presidency, National Assembly, governorships and state Houses of Assembly.
Amupitan noted that while the Constitution provides for INEC’s funding as a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the Commission still requires sustained financial support to meet the demands of its responsibilities.
“Sometimes, it is not what you would like to do that you are able to do because of financial constraints,” he said, explaining that government agencies could only implement programmes within the limits of available appropriations.
The chairman said the relationship between funding, logistics and election security was particularly important because INEC and security agencies must operate across thousands of registration areas and polling units.
He added that maintaining peace alone would not guarantee an effective election if electoral materials and personnel could not reach their designated locations on time.
Amupitan identified voter registration as another critical component of credible elections, saying the voters’ register must accurately reflect eligible voters to ensure an inclusive electoral process.
He said INEC had placed security and logistics among its priorities ahead of the 2027 elections and was engaging relevant government and security agencies to address potential operational challenges.
The chairman also highlighted the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), describing it as a key mechanism for coordinating election security between INEC, the police and other relevant agencies.
He explained that ICCES operates at the federal, state and local government levels, with the Inspector-General of Police represented at the national level, commissioners of police at the state level and divisional police leadership at the local level.
Amupitan said the experience of recent off-cycle elections underscored the importance of intelligence gathering, adequate logistics and effective coordination among security agencies.
He urged stakeholders to apply lessons from those elections to preparations for the 2027 general elections.
“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.
The INEC chairman called for adequate resources for both the Commission and security agencies, saying such support would enable them to effectively discharge their respective mandates.
He also urged senior police officers to maintain professional neutrality, improve intelligence gathering and strengthen inter-agency coordination to protect the integrity of the electoral process.
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, in her remarks, urged the Nigeria Police Force to maintain strong cooperation with INEC ahead of the 2027 elections.
Badejo-Okusanya said effective policing support was essential to protecting the electoral process and creating an environment conducive to free, fair, credible and transparent elections.
Amupitan expressed optimism that the Owerri retreat would produce a practical roadmap for strengthening election security and inter-agency cooperation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
