INEC Vows To End Election-Day Delays, Threatens Sanctions For Attacks On Staff Ahead Of 2027 Polls

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has vowed to end delays in the arrival of election materials during the 2027 general elections, while warning that anyone who threatens, intimidates or attacks its personnel will face the full weight of the law.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, gave the assurances during the Commission’s South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Saturday.

Amupitan warned that insecurity would not be allowed to prevent electoral personnel, including ad-hoc staff and members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), from performing their duties.

“Anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.

The chairman said the Commission was adopting a proactive, intelligence-led security framework to protect electoral personnel, voters and election infrastructure ahead of the 2027 elections.

He explained that the new arrangement, known as the ‘ICCES Tentacle’, would extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres.

According to him, the framework is built around three priorities: identifying and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and ensuring unrestricted access to polling units.

Amupitan disclosed that approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands of security agencies would support election security operations across the South-South region under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).

The network involves military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies operating across the six states of the region.

He said the South-South has 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of Nigeria’s national voter register, while Rivers State alone accounts for 3,736,434 voters across its 23 local government areas.

The INEC chairman disclosed that the Commission had completed nine of the 14 major statutory milestones in its timetable for the 2027 general elections.

The elections, expected to involve more than 103 million registered voters across 176,846 polling units, are scheduled for January 16, 2027, for the presidential and National Assembly polls, while governorship and State Assembly elections will hold on February 6, 2027.

He said INEC had also concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the Maritime Transporters Union to facilitate the timely and secure movement of election personnel and materials to riverine and coastal communities.

The Commission, he added, had distributed new operational pickup vehicles to its state and local government offices nationwide.

On staff welfare, Amupitan said INEC had introduced the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure, effective January 1, 2026, and approved a 150 per cent increase in monthly state overhead allocations from July 1, 2026.

He urged electoral personnel to uphold professionalism, neutrality and efficiency, warning that partisan conduct, negligence, financial impropriety and absenteeism would attract disciplinary sanctions.

The chairman also identified late opening of polling units, poor staff conduct and unresolved technological challenges as factors capable of undermining public confidence and providing opportunities for misinformation.

He urged staff to comply with the Electoral Act 2026, particularly Section 26, which he said provides for an Oath of Neutrality.

Earlier, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Rivers State, Dr. Johnson Alalibo Sinikiem, said the engagement was designed to assess the Commission’s preparedness, identify operational gaps and establish priorities ahead of the elections.

He stressed that credible elections depended not only on activities on election day but also on adequate planning, resources, technological readiness, competent personnel and effective stakeholder engagement.

The Director of Planning and Monitoring, Mrs. Helen Ajayi, said the assessment would examine election security, staff training, voter education, stakeholder engagement and operational preparedness across the states.

She added that departmental presentations would cover voter registration and Permanent Voter Card collection, information technology deployment, human resources, electoral operations and electoral risk management.

INEC Lowers BVAS Deployment Threshold, Targets Timely Arrival Of Election Materials

In a related development, Amupitan has assured Nigerians that the delays associated with the arrival of election materials in previous elections would not recur in 2027.

He gave the assurance on Friday, October 30, during a visit to the palace of the King and Paramount Ruler of Port Harcourt, His Royal Majesty, Barr. Uchechukwu Isaiah Elikwu, Eze Epara Rebisi XII.

The visit was part of INEC’s South-South readiness assessment tour, which also seeks to secure the cooperation of traditional rulers in mobilising communities for the elections.

Amupitan said the Commission was taking steps to ensure that election materials arrived at polling units on time.

“The era of the past, when elections were supposed to start by 8:30am but materials sometimes arrived very late, must come to an end,” he said.

He also disclosed that INEC had reduced the voter threshold for deploying additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines from 1,250 to 850 voters per polling unit.

According to him, the adjustment is part of efforts to improve electoral technology and operational efficiency.

The chairman said traditional rulers remained critical to the success of the electoral process because of their influence in maintaining grassroots peace, encouraging civic participation and mobilising residents.

He urged the Port Harcourt monarch to encourage eligible residents to collect their Permanent Voter Cards and participate in the 2027 elections.

Amupitan also called on traditional institutions to help combat misinformation and disinformation, particularly false information circulated through social media and artificial intelligence.

He recalled that the Commission had engaged traditional rulers across other geopolitical zones, including the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi; the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji Olanipekun; the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu; and the Emir of Zazzau, Ambassador Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli.

Others included the Ogadagidi I of Edem-An Ogwugwu Ancient Kingdom, Samuel Ikechukwu Asadu, and the Emir of Gombe, Dr. Abubakar Shehu III.

Responding, Eze Epara Rebisi XII assured INEC of the support of the traditional institution, pledging to mobilise residents to collect their PVCs and participate in the elections.

He, however, urged the Commission to remain impartial and discharge its responsibilities fairly.

“Do the right thing, and we assure you of our support. We will mobilise our people to collect their PVCs and come out to vote,” the monarch said.

INEC has maintained that its preparations for the 2027 general elections will focus on operational efficiency, security, technological readiness and collaboration with stakeholders to deliver credible, inclusive and transparent polls.