BY Our Correspondent
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, on Wednesday warned that inadequate funding could undermine the security, logistics and overall effectiveness of the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan made the disclosure in Owerri, Imo State, while delivering a goodwill message at the sixth edition of the Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers, with the theme: “Developing a Nigeria Police Roadmap for Effective Management of Security During Elections.”
The INEC chairman said while the Commission’s funding was constitutionally provided as a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the scale of its responsibilities required sustained and adequate financial support.
According to him, INEC’s responsibilities extend beyond conducting presidential and National Assembly elections to governorship and state House of Assembly polls, voter registration and political party registration.
He stressed that the Commission also has statutory powers to request the deployment of security agencies during elections and voter registration, making adequate funding indispensable to both electoral operations and security management.
Amupitan said, “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.”
He warned that the challenge was not limited to security personnel, noting that inadequate logistics could disrupt an election even where security agencies successfully maintain peace.
The INEC chairman said the Commission required sufficient resources to deploy personnel and sensitive materials across local government areas, wards, registration areas and polling units nationwide.
He also identified voter registration as the foundation of credible elections, warning that an inaccurate or outdated voters’ register could weaken the inclusiveness and credibility of the electoral process.
Amupitan argued that because elections conducted by INEC affect all three tiers of government, funding election-related expenditure, including security costs, should be treated as a collective national responsibility.
The INEC chairman said Nigerians expected a highly effective electoral system but must recognise that achieving such standards came at a cost.
“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.
He urged the relevant authorities to provide adequate resources to INEC and the security agencies to enable them discharge their responsibilities effectively ahead of the 2027 elections.
Amupitan also called for stronger inter-agency coordination, particularly through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), which he described as a critical platform for coordinating election security among INEC, the police and other government and security agencies.
He explained that ICCES, established as a coordinating mechanism following concerns over post-election violence after the 2011 general elections, had evolved into a structured arrangement operating at 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, while divisional police leadership is represented at the local government level.
He stressed that stronger coordination, proactive intelligence gathering and effective logistics would be crucial to preventing security and operational challenges from undermining the 2027 polls.
Amupitan said the police remained the lead agency in election security and urged senior police officers to maintain professional neutrality while strengthening intelligence gathering and cooperation with other agencies.
He cited experiences from recent off-cycle elections, where security agencies helped resolve incidents that could otherwise have disrupted the electoral process, saying the lessons should be incorporated into preparations for 2027.
The INEC chairman expressed optimism that the Owerri retreat would produce an actionable roadmap for election security ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said the Commission under his leadership had made security and logistics priorities and was working with government and security agencies to ensure operational challenges did not compromise the elections.
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, also called for stronger police support for INEC, urging the leadership and operational personnel of the Nigeria Police Force to give the electoral body the necessary cooperation to deliver free, fair, credible and transparent elections.
She emphasised that effective policing support remained vital to safeguarding the electoral process and protecting the integrity of the ballot.
, Prof. Joash Amupitan, on Wednesday warned that inadequate funding could undermine the security, logistics and overall effectiveness of the 2027 general elections.){kind=link}