- Amupitan Warns Inadequate Resources Could Undermine Polls
- Demands Stronger Intelligence, Inter-Agency Coordination
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has warned that inadequate funding could undermine security, logistics and ultimately the successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan, who spoke in Owerri, Imo State, on Wednesday, said the enormous responsibilities placed on INEC and security agencies required sustained financial support if Nigerians were to have credible and inclusive elections.
The INEC chairman spoke while delivering a goodwill message at the sixth edition of the Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers, themed, “Developing a Nigeria Police Roadmap for Effective Management of Security During Elections.”
He said although INEC’s funding was constitutionally provided as a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the scale of its responsibilities made adequate and timely financing indispensable.
According to him, INEC is responsible not only for presidential and National Assembly elections, but also for governorship and State House of Assembly elections, voter registration and registration of political parties.
Amupitan said the commission also had statutory powers to request the deployment of security agencies for elections and voter registration, making security inseparable from the electoral process.
«“Sometimes, it is not what you would like to do that you are able to do because of financial constraints. The system does make allocations of what is available and what is affordable at a particular time for the expenses and appropriation of the agencies, including the police and also including INEC.”»
‘There Must Be A Cost For Perfect Elections’
The INEC chairman said the country could not demand a flawless electoral system while ignoring the financial requirements for delivering it.
“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Amupitan stressed that voter registration remained the foundation of credible elections, warning that an inaccurate or outdated voters’ register could weaken the inclusiveness and integrity of the electoral process.
He said funding was particularly critical to the deployment of electoral personnel and materials across local government areas, wards, registration areas and polling units.
According to him, even when security agencies successfully maintain peace, inadequate logistics could still disrupt the conduct of elections.
The INEC chairman said security and logistics had become priorities under his leadership, adding that the commission was working with government and security agencies to ensure that operational challenges did not derail the 2027 polls.
Police, INEC Deepen Security Coordination
Amupitan also underscored the importance of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), describing it as a critical platform for coordinating INEC, the police and other security and government agencies.
He explained that ICCES emerged as a coordination mechanism after the 2011 general elections, following concerns over post-election violence, and had since evolved into a structured election-security framework.
According to him, the committee now operates at federal, state and local government levels, with the Inspector-General of Police participating at the national level, commissioners of police at the state level and divisional police leadership represented at the local level.
The INEC chairman said stronger coordination among the agencies would be crucial ahead of 2027, stressing that the Nigeria Police Force remained the lead agency for election security.
He cited experiences from recent off-cycle elections as evidence of the importance of security preparedness and inter-agency coordination, saying security agencies had intervened in incidents that could otherwise have disrupted the electoral process.
Amupitan urged senior police officers to draw lessons from recent elections by strengthening intelligence gathering, logistics planning and operational coordination ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He further charged the police leadership to maintain professional neutrality and proactive intelligence gathering while deepening collaboration with INEC and other relevant agencies.
He expressed optimism that the Owerri retreat would produce an actionable roadmap capable of strengthening election security ahead of the 2027 polls.
Also speaking, President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, urged the leadership and operational personnel of the Nigeria Police Force to provide the necessary support and synergy to the INEC chairman in discharging his mandate.
Badejo-Okusanya said robust policing support was vital to protecting the electoral process and facilitating free, fair, credible and transparent elections across the country.
