The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has called for adequate funding to support security, logistics and other operational requirements for the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, said the commission’s constitutional funding arrangement as a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund did not remove the need for sufficient financial resources to meet the scale of its responsibilities, Arise News reports.
Amupitan spoke on Wednesday in Owerri, Imo State, during 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 INEC’s responsibilities extended beyond the conduct of presidential and National Assembly elections to include governorship and State House of Assembly elections, voter registration and registration of political parties.
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According to him, the commission also has the statutory authority to request the deployment of security agencies for elections and voter registration, making security an essential part of 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,” he said.
Funding Critical to Election Logistics
Amupitan said adequate funding was particularly important for the deployment of electoral personnel and materials to local government areas, wards, registration areas and polling units.
He noted that even when security agencies succeeded in maintaining peace, inadequate logistics could still affect the smooth conduct of elections.
The INEC chairman said the commission had made security and logistics priorities under his leadership and was working with government and security agencies to address operational challenges ahead of the 2027 polls.
He also described voter registration as the foundation of credible elections, warning that an inaccurate or outdated voters’ register could affect the inclusiveness of the electoral process.
Amupitan argued that because INEC conducts elections across the three tiers of government, election-related expenditure, including security costs, should be treated as a collective national responsibility.
“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 therefore called on relevant authorities to provide INEC and security agencies with the resources required to perform their responsibilities effectively.
ICCES to Strengthen Election Security
Amupitan also highlighted the role of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) in coordinating INEC, security agencies and other government institutions involved in election security.
He said ICCES was established as a coordinating arrangement after the 2011 general elections following concerns over post-election violence and had since evolved into a structured mechanism for election security coordination.
According to him, ICCES now operates at the federal, state and local government levels.
The Inspector-General of Police participates at the national level, commissioners of police operate at the state level, while divisional police leadership is represented at the local government level.
Amupitan said stronger inter-agency coordination would be necessary ahead of the 2027 elections, stressing that the police remained the lead agency responsible for election security.
He cited recent off-cycle elections as evidence of the importance of adequate security and coordination, saying security agencies had intervened in incidents that could otherwise have disrupted the electoral process.
He urged stakeholders to draw lessons from recent elections and strengthen preparations in areas including intelligence gathering, logistics and inter-agency coordination.
NBA Seeks Police Support for INEC
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, called on the leadership and operational personnel of the Nigeria Police Force to give their full support and cooperation to INEC in carrying out its mandate.
Badejo-Okusanya said effective policing remained critical to protecting the electoral process and ensuring the conduct of free, fair, credible and transparent elections.
Amupitan expressed optimism that the Owerri retreat would produce an actionable and forward-looking roadmap for election security ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He charged senior police officers to maintain professional neutrality, strengthen intelligence gathering and improve inter-agency coordination to protect the integrity of the ballot.
This version keeps the original substance while making the lead sharper, reducing repetition and giving the story a more conventional newspaper structure.
Rafiyat Sadiq is a political, justice, and human rights reporter with Pinnacle Daily, known for fearless reporting and impactful storytelling. At Pinnacle Daily, she brings clarity and depth to issues shaping governance, democracy, and the protection of citizens’ rights.