The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, has said adequate funding will be crucial to the commission’s ability to provide effective logistics and support security arrangements for the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan spoke in Owerri, Imo State, during a goodwill address at the sixth Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers, CARSPO 2026.
The three-day conference, held from 21 to 23 September, focused on developing strategies for managing election security ahead of the 2027 general elections. The event was organised around the theme, “Developing a Nigeria Police Roadmap for Effective Management of Security During Elections.”
Amupitan attended the conference with senior officials of INEC, including National Commissioners Dr Ken Nnamdi Ukeagu and Rear Admiral Jamila Abubakar Malaga (retd.); the Imo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Chukwuemeka C. Ibeziakor; and the commission’s Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser, Adedayo Oketola.
The INEC chairman said the scale of the commission’s responsibilities makes sustained funding necessary, particularly as the commission is responsible for elections at the federal and state levels, voter registration and other aspects of election administration.
He said financial limitations could affect the extent to which agencies are able to implement their plans. “Sometimes, it is not what you would like to do that you can do because of financial constraints,” Amupitan said.
According to him, government agencies, including INEC and the police, have to operate within the limits of funds made available to them.
“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 therefore described election security and other electoral expenses as a national responsibility requiring adequate financial commitment. Amupitan also drew attention to the importance of logistics, noting that security alone would not guarantee a successful election if electoral materials and personnel could not reach polling locations on time.
He said the credibility of the electoral process also begins with the voters’ register, stressing that deficiencies in registration could affect the inclusiveness of the elections. The INEC chairman said the commission must be able to move personnel and sensitive and non-sensitive materials from central locations to local government areas, wards and ultimately polling units.
He said inadequate funding could make such operations difficult even where security agencies had successfully prevented violence.
To improve coordination ahead of 2027, INEC is working with relevant government agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), a platform designed to coordinate election-security planning among relevant institutions.
Amupitan reaffirmed the leading role of the Nigeria Police Force in election security and stressed the importance of cooperation among security and electoral agencies.
The Nigeria Police Force has said CARSPO 2026 was designed to bring senior commanders and other stakeholders together to examine emerging electoral-security challenges and develop practical strategies for protecting voters, candidates, electoral personnel and materials.
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okusanya, also urged police officers to give the INEC leadership the necessary support to conduct credible elections.
She said effective policing would be essential to protecting voters and electoral materials and creating an environment in which Nigerians could freely participate in the electoral process. Amupitan, while concluding his address, acknowledged the financial demands involved in building and maintaining an effective electoral system.
“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 also urged police commanders to remain neutral, strengthen intelligence gathering and protect the integrity of the 2027 electoral process.
