As preparations intensify for the 2027 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has renewed its call for adequate and sustained funding of the electoral process, warning that financial constraints could affect the security and logistics required for credible polls.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, made the call in Owerri, Imo State, while delivering a goodwill message at the sixth edition of the Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers. The event focused on developing a roadmap for effective management of election security in Nigeria.
Amupitan said the scale of INEC’s responsibilities goes beyond conducting presidential and National Assembly elections, noting that the commission also oversees governorship and State House of Assembly elections, voter registration and the registration of political parties.
Although INEC’s funding is constitutionally protected as a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the chairman said the commission still requires sustained financial backing to meet the operational demands of a nationwide electoral exercise.
He identified logistics as one of the most critical areas where funding is needed, particularly the movement of personnel and sensitive electoral materials across local government areas, wards, registration areas and polling units.
According to him, an election can face serious operational difficulties even where security agencies successfully maintain peace, if there are insufficient resources to move personnel and materials to where they are required.
The INEC chairman also placed voter registration at the heart of preparations for the 2027 polls, describing an accurate and up-to-date voters’ register as essential to ensuring that eligible Nigerians are properly captured in the electoral process.
He argued that because INEC conducts elections across Nigeria’s three tiers of government, the financial burden of elections, including security and logistics, should be treated as a collective national responsibility rather than the concern of the electoral commission alone.
Security coordination also featured prominently in Amupitan’s address.
He highlighted the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, ICCES, as a key platform for bringing INEC, the police and other security and government agencies together to coordinate election security.
The chairman traced the development of ICCES to concerns that emerged after the 2011 general elections, particularly the violence recorded in parts of the country. He said the mechanism has since evolved into a structured system operating at the federal, state and local government levels.
Under the arrangement, the Inspector-General of Police participates at the national level, commissioners of police coordinate at the state level, while divisional police leadership is represented at the local government level.
Amupitan said closer collaboration among security agencies would be crucial as the country moves towards the 2027 elections, stressing the central role of the Nigeria Police Force as the lead agency for election security.
He also pointed to lessons from recent off-cycle elections, where coordinated security interventions helped contain incidents that could have disrupted the electoral process.
For the INEC chairman, those experiences provide an opportunity to strengthen preparations for 2027, particularly in intelligence gathering, operational planning, logistics and inter-agency cooperation.
He said INEC had consequently placed security and logistics high on its priorities and was engaging government institutions and security agencies to ensure that operational shortcomings do not undermine preparations for the elections.
Amupitan further urged senior police officers to maintain professional neutrality, strengthen proactive intelligence gathering and improve coordination among security agencies in order to safeguard the electoral process.
With the 2027 elections still ahead, the Owerri retreat is expected to contribute to a more coordinated security framework, while INEC continues to push for the financial and logistical support needed to translate election plans into effective nationwide operations.
