By David Lawani, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned that funding constraints could weaken security arrangements and logistics for the 2027 general elections, with possible implications for the credibility of the electoral process.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, said adequate financing was essential to enable the Commission and security agencies to deploy the personnel, electoral materials and operational resources required to conduct elections across the country.
Amupitan spoke 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.”
He said the scale of INEC’s constitutional and statutory responsibilities made sustained funding imperative, stressing that election security could not be treated separately from the wider logistical and operational demands of conducting elections.
According to him, although INEC’s funding is constitutionally provided as a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the Commission still operates within the limits of available national resources and appropriations.
“Sometimes, it is not what you would like to do that you can 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.
Amupitan noted that INEC’s responsibilities go beyond presidential and National Assembly elections to include governorship and state House of Assembly elections, voter registration and the registration of political parties.
He added that the Commission was also empowered to request the deployment of security agencies during elections and voter registration, making effective security arrangements a critical part of its operations.
The INEC chairman consequently described election expenditure, including security and logistics, as a collective national responsibility, given the Commission’s mandate to conduct elections across the three tiers of government.
He identified voter registration as the foundation of a credible electoral process, warning that an inaccurate or outdated voters’ register could undermine the inclusiveness and credibility of elections.
Beyond securing polling units, Amupitan said adequate funding was needed to transport electoral personnel and materials to local government areas, wards, registration areas and polling units nationwide.
He stressed that maintaining peace at polling locations alone would not guarantee a successful election if electoral officials and materials were unable to reach their destinations on time.
“Even where security agencies can maintain peace, inadequate logistics can still undermine the conduct of an election,” he said.
Amupitan said INEC had placed security and logistics among its priorities ahead of the 2027 elections and was working with relevant government institutions and security agencies to address operational challenges.
He also highlighted the role of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), describing the platform as central to coordination among INEC, security agencies and other government institutions before, during and after elections.
According to him, ICCES emerged as a coordinated response to concerns over post-election violence following the 2011 general elections and has since developed into a structured mechanism for managing election security.
He said the committee now operates at the 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 government level.
With the 2027 elections approaching, Amupitan called for stronger intelligence gathering, operational planning and inter-agency coordination, stressing that the Nigeria Police Force remained the lead agency for election security.
He urged stakeholders to apply lessons from recent off-cycle elections to preparations for the general elections, particularly in identifying potential threats early and ensuring that personnel and logistics could be deployed effectively.
The INEC chairman said recent electoral exercises had demonstrated the importance of cooperation among security agencies, noting that security interventions had helped prevent some incidents from escalating into disruptions of the electoral process.
Amupitan maintained that Nigerians expected the country to continually improve its electoral system, but such expectations must be matched with the resources required to achieve them.
“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 relevant authorities to provide INEC and security agencies with the resources required to discharge their respective responsibilities effectively.
The chairman also charged senior police officers to maintain professional neutrality, strengthen intelligence gathering and ensure seamless coordination with other agencies in order to protect the integrity of the electoral process.
He reaffirmed INEC’s commitment to deepening operational cooperation through ICCES and expressed optimism that the Owerri retreat would produce an actionable roadmap for election security ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, also called on the leadership and operational personnel of the Nigeria Police Force to sustain strong cooperation with INEC.
Badejo-Okusanya said effective policing support was essential to protecting the electoral process and facilitating free, fair, credible and transparent elections.
The retreat brought together senior police officers and key stakeholders to examine strategies for improving the management of security during elections, amid preparations for the 2027 general elections.
