By Nkechi Eze
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has said adequate funding is critical to providing the security and logistics required for the successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.
According to an official statement by the Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Adedayo Oketola, Amupitan stated this on Wednesday in Owerri, Imo State, 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.”
The INEC chairman said although the Commission’s funding was constitutionally provided as a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the scale of its responsibilities required sustained financial support to enable it conduct elections effectively.
Amupitan explained that INEC was responsible not only for presidential and National Assembly elections, but also for governorship and state House of Assembly elections, voter registration and the registration of political parties.
He noted that the Commission also had statutory powers to request the deployment of security agencies for elections and voter registration, making security an integral component 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.
The INEC chairman stressed that voter registration remained the foundation of credible elections, warning that an inaccurate or outdated voters’ register could undermine the inclusiveness of the electoral process.
He said because INEC conducts elections affecting the three tiers of government, expenditure on elections, including security-related costs, should be treated as a collective national responsibility.
Amupitan said adequate funding was particularly important for the deployment of personnel and electoral materials to local government areas, wards, registration areas and polling units, noting that even where security agencies successfully maintained peace, inadequate logistics could still undermine the conduct of elections.
He disclosed that INEC 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.
The chairman also highlighted the role of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), describing it as a platform for coordinating INEC, security and relevant government agencies on election security.
According to him, ICCES, which emerged as a coordinating arrangement following concerns over post-election violence after the 2011 general elections, has evolved into a structured mechanism operating at federal, state and local government levels.
He explained that 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.
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, noting that security agencies had helped resolve incidents that could otherwise have disrupted the electoral process.
The INEC chairman urged stakeholders to apply lessons from recent elections to strengthen preparations for 2027, particularly in intelligence gathering, logistics and inter-agency coordination.
“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,” Amupitan said.
He called on relevant authorities to provide the resources required by INEC and security agencies to enable them effectively discharge their responsibilities.
Reaffirming the Commission’s commitment to deepening operational synergy through ICCES, Amupitan expressed optimism that the Owerri retreat would produce an actionable and forward-looking roadmap for the 2027 general elections.
He also charged senior police managers to maintain professional neutrality, strengthen proactive intelligence gathering and sustain seamless inter-agency coordination to protect the integrity of the electoral process.
In his remarks, 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 the discharge of his mandate.
Badejo-Okusanya said robust policing support remained vital to safeguarding the electoral process and ensuring free, fair, credible and transparent elections across the country.
