INEC  Announces Staff Welfare Reforms Ahead of 2027 Elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission has directed its staff to suspend further annual leave as it intensifies preparations for the 2027 general elections.

INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, announced the directive on Friday during the Commission’s North-Central zonal interactive meeting with staff and readiness assessment in Lokoja, Kogi State.

He said the approaching elections required stronger administrative discipline, operational efficiency and commitment from personnel across the country.

Amupitan warned that staff found guilty of partisanship, negligence, financial impropriety or absenteeism would face disciplinary action. He also directed Resident Electoral Commissioners and Administrative Secretaries to enforce attendance and accountability measures.

The chairman said the Commission was introducing a series of workforce, welfare and logistical reforms to strengthen its nationwide operations.

A key measure is the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure, which he said took effect on Jan. 1, 2026, following INEC’s decision to move away from the conventional civil service salary structure. He added that processes for providing the funds to implement the arrangement were ongoing.

The Commission has also approved enhanced salary, hazard and field allowances for personnel, alongside a 150% increase in monthly overhead allocations to state offices, effective July 1, 2026.

On logistics, Amupitan said operational pickup vehicles had been distributed to state and local government offices nationwide. He added that INEC had procured 20 sport utility vehicles for Resident Electoral Commissioners, while Administrative Secretaries would also receive new vehicles.

The chairman said the measures were intended to provide personnel with the resources needed to carry out their responsibilities ahead of the elections.

Amupitan said INEC was also strengthening its electoral technology, particularly voter accreditation and electronic results management.

He disclosed that the Commission was configuring its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, including 57,000 newly procured devices, to support voter verification and accreditation.

He said electronic results management systems were undergoing audits, including the eEC8A verification platform, which is expected to support the transparent transmission of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal.

The Commission has also activated printable Permanent Voter Cards and a digital PVC Location Portal to improve access for voters.

Amupitan said the preliminary voters’ register had been published for public scrutiny, while the certified Register of Voters was scheduled for publication on Dec. 15, 2026.

Addressing concerns about photographs appearing on the preliminary register, he said the records remained subject to verification before the final register would be published.

The 2027 general elections are scheduled to involve more than 103 million registered voters across 176,846 polling units. The presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for Jan. 16, 2027, while governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections are fixed for Feb. 6, 2027.