Precious Nwonu, Enugu
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has increased the monthly overhead allocations to its state offices by 150 per cent as part of efforts to strengthen its operations ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The commission’s Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, announced the development on Tuesday during an interactive meeting with electoral officials in Gombe State, organised as part of the North-East zonal assessment of preparations for the elections.
Amupitan said the revised allocation took effect on July 1, 2026, adding that the increase was intended to ease financial pressure and reduce administrative challenges at state and local government levels.
He also disclosed that INEC had secured approval for a new salary structure known as the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure (CEMBSS), which became effective financially on January 1, 2026.
According to him, the structure separates electoral personnel from the regular civil service salary system to reflect the specialised duties and risks associated with election management.
The chairman further said the commission was working towards implementing a comprehensive salary and welfare package for its staff, Resident Electoral Commissioners and members of the commission.
He explained that the proposed package would review field allowances and hazard compensation to reflect current economic conditions, although he did not disclose the financial details.
Amupitan also warned electoral officers against misconduct, political bias, corruption and negligence, insisting that personnel found violating professional standards would face disciplinary action.
He directed Resident Electoral Commissioners and administrative secretaries to enforce attendance regulations, warning that unauthorised absence, habitual lateness and failure to perform official duties would not be tolerated.
The INEC chairman said the credibility of the 2027 elections would depend largely on the conduct of officials responsible for managing polling units and collation centres.
He urged staff to resist political pressure, inducements, intimidation and ethnic considerations while carrying out their responsibilities.
Providing an update on voter registration in the North-East, Amupitan said the region had 13,965,475 registered voters, representing 13.51 per cent of Nigeria’s more than 103 million registered voters.
The figure comprises 3,012,547 voters in Bauchi, 2,765,165 in Borno, 2,431,146 in Adamawa, 2,254,380 in Taraba, 1,768,566 in Gombe and 1,733,671 in Yobe.
He said Gombe alone had 1,768,566 registered voters across 11 local government areas, 114 registration areas and 3,311 polling units.
Amupitan disclosed that the three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise conducted between August 2025 and July 2026 recorded 10,772,421 new voter applications.
He said the applications had undergone biometric deduplication through the Automated Biometric Identification System to identify duplicate registrations and fraudulent entries.
The commission has also introduced online voter registration, printable Permanent Voter Cards and a digital PVC location portal to improve access to voter services.
According to the chairman, the preliminary voters’ register was published online after its nationwide physical display from October 9 to 15, 2026, allowing eligible citizens to submit claims and objections.
He said the final certification of the register was scheduled for December 15, 2026, while urging registered voters to collect their PVCs ahead of the elections.
INEC has scheduled the presidential and National Assembly elections for January 16, 2027, while governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections are expected to take place on February 6, 2027.
Amupitan said the commission had completed nine of the 14 major statutory activities outlined in its revised election timetable.
He added that INEC was assessing its operational capacity across the six North-East states, with attention to logistics, technology, voter registration, staff conduct and security arrangements.
The commission has also started distributing newly acquired operational pickup vehicles to its state and local government offices to improve mobility and election logistics.
In addition, an Electoral Logistics Committee chaired by retired Rear Admiral Jamila Malafa has been established to coordinate logistical arrangements for the polls.
Amupitan said the zonal assessment meeting was intended to identify operational gaps and enable electoral officials to report challenges requiring attention before the elections.
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