The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, says adequate and sustained funding is critical to providing the security and logistics required for the successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.
Amupitan made the remarks on Wednesday, September 23, in Owerri, Imo State, during the sixth Conference and Retreat for Senior Police Officers, where he said INEC’s responsibilities extended beyond conducting elections to voter registration and political party registration. He noted that the commission also requires security deployment for elections and voter registration.
The INEC chairman said funding was particularly important for deploying electoral personnel and materials to local government areas, wards, registration areas and polling units. He warned that inadequate logistics could affect elections even where security agencies successfully maintained peace.
Amupitan also called for stronger coordination among INEC, the police and other security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES). He urged senior police officers to maintain professional neutrality, strengthen intelligence gathering and apply lessons from recent elections in preparations for 2027.
He urged relevant authorities to provide INEC and security agencies with sufficient resources to discharge their responsibilities effectively, expressing optimism that the Owerri retreat would produce an actionable roadmap for election security ahead of the 2027 polls.
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