By Abiodun Folarin
WorldStage— The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has said adequate funding is critical to providing the security, logistics and other operational requirements for the successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.
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.”
He said although INEC’s funding is constitutionally provided as a first-line charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the scale of the Commission’s responsibilities requires sustained financial support.
According to him, INEC is responsible for conducting presidential, National Assembly, governorship and State House of Assembly elections, as well as voter registration and the registration of political parties.
He added that the Commission has statutory powers to request the deployment of security agencies during 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.
Amupitan said inadequate funding could affect the deployment of electoral personnel and materials to local government areas, wards, registration areas and polling units, stressing that security alone could not guarantee a successful election if logistics were inadequate.
He also identified voter registration as the foundation of credible elections, warning that an inaccurate or outdated voters’ register could undermine the inclusiveness of the electoral process.
The INEC chairman said election expenditure, including security-related costs, should be treated as a collective national responsibility because the Commission conducts elections across the three tiers of government.
He said security and logistics had remained priorities under his leadership, adding that INEC was working with government and security agencies to address operational challenges ahead of the 2027 elections.
Amupitan also highlighted the role of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) as the principal platform for coordination between INEC, security agencies and other relevant government institutions.
He explained that ICCES emerged as a coordinating arrangement after the 2011 general elections, following concerns over post-election violence, and had since evolved into a structured mechanism operating at federal, state and local government levels.
According to him, the Inspector-General of Police participates at the national level, commissioners of police operate at the state level, while divisional police leadership represents the force at the local level.
The INEC chairman said stronger inter-agency coordination would be necessary ahead of 2027, noting that the Nigeria Police Force remained the lead agency for election security.
He cited recent off-cycle elections as demonstrating the importance of effective security coordination, saying security agencies had intervened in incidents that could otherwise have disrupted the electoral process.
Amupitan urged stakeholders to draw lessons from recent elections and strengthen intelligence gathering, logistics and inter-agency coordination ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said Nigerians expected a highly effective electoral system but must also recognise that achieving such standards required adequate resources.
“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 the resources required by INEC and security agencies to enable them to effectively discharge their responsibilities.
Reaffirming INEC’s commitment to deepening operational synergy through ICCES, 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 proactive intelligence gathering and sustain seamless inter-agency coordination to protect the integrity of the electoral process.
Also speaking, President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, urged the leadership and operational personnel of the Nigeria Police Force to provide unalloyed support and synergy to the INEC chairman in the discharge of his mandate.
She said effective policing support remained vital to safeguarding the electoral process and ensuring free, fair, credible and transparent elections across the country.
