By Tony Ezimakor, Abuja
Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Joash Amupitan has vowed to subject those threatening and intimidating its adhoc staff and especially 11 of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) or permanent personnel to the full wrath of the law.
Angry Nigerians and contestants who are still feeling the hurt of the 2023 unresolved glitch experienced during that presidential election, have vowed to “count” and “rig” electoral officers who seek to rig the 2027 election or fail to count their ballots — assertions the commission interprets as threat of violence against INEC personnel and adhoc staff.
But he warned the employees against poll malfeasance, saying the fire of sanctions await those who refuse to engage in electoral uprightness.
Prof Amupitan who gave the warning Saturday in Port Harcourt, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement ahead of the 2027 elections, said that such alleged threats and intimidation will not be tolerated.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our adhoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he warned.
The Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, Directors and Technical Aides, said the South-South meeting was the fifth in the series of zonal assessments, following those held in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He said his physical presence at each zone reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, noting that “true electoral integrity is forged in the field”, across the 123 Local Government Areas of the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof Amupitan said the Commission had changed its approach from reactive, election-day deployments to an early, intelligence-led arrangement.
“We have moved away from reactive, election-day security deployments toward a proactive, intelligence-led security architecture that we term the ‘ICCES Tentacle.’ This framework extends inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters directly down to the most remote Local Government Areas and Registration Area Centres,” he said.
He identified three non-negotiable pillars of the framework: mapping and mitigating threats, ensuring safety, and guaranteeing access to polling units.
The second and third pillars, he said, involves providing “a comprehensive protective umbrella over all electoral personnel, technological assets including BVAS devices and server infrastructure, and most importantly, the Nigerian voter.”
“It would also ensure that every polling unit, regardless of geographical remoteness or historical security challenges”, remained “a safe, peaceful, and dignified sanctuary for the exercise of democratic rights,” the INEC Chair stressed.
The Chairman disclosed that the South-South arrangement relies on approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES). The network brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states of the zone.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he said.
Prof Amupitan said the South-South accounts for the fourth largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register. Rivers State alone has 3,736,434 registered voters across 23 Local Government Areas.
He said these figures represented “living citizens whose constitutional right to choose their leaders in a secure, transparent environment must be guaranteed without compromise.”
Giving an update on preparations, the Chairman said the Commission had executed nine of the 14 major statutory milestones in the timetable for the 2027 elections, which will involve over 103 million registered voters and 176,846 polling units.
The Presidential and National Assembly Elections hold on 16 January 2027, while the Governorship and State Assembly Elections are scheduled for 6 February 2027.
He noted that the Commission had finalised a Memorandum of Understanding with the Maritime Transporters Union to ensure the timely and secure deployment of personnel and materials to riverine and coastal communities, adding that new operational pick-up vehicles had been distributed to State and LGA offices nationwide.
On staff welfare, he said the Commission had pulled its workforce out of the civil service salary structure to the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure, effective 1 January 2026, and approved a 150 per cent increase in monthly state overhead allocations, effective 1 July 2026.
“To our field staff: you are the true face of INEC,” he told the participants.
The Chairman also drew attention to the role of electoral personnel in protecting the credibility of the election. He said late opening of polling units, staff irritability and unresolved technical glitches could fuel disinformation and undermine public trust.
“False narratives only gain traction when administrative execution falters,” he said, adding: “When our field execution is flawless, and our data pipeline is clear, no digital algorithm can displace the physical reality of a transparent vote.”
Warns Staff Members Towards Poll Corruption Of Any Sort
Prof Amupitan further warned that “partisan leaning, negligence, financial impropriety, or absenteeism will meet swift, decisive sanctions.” He reminded staff that Section 26 of the Electoral Act 2026 mandates an Oath of Neutrality and urged them to be guided in every decision by one question: “What does the law and our guidelines require me to do?”
Amupitan, During Royal Visit, Assures Of Non-Repeat Of 2023 Flaws
Speaking when he paid a courtesy visit on the King and Paramount Ruler of Port Harcourt, His Royal Majesty, Barr. Uchechukwu Isaiah Elikwu, Eze Epara Rebisi XII, in Rivers State Prof Amupitan reassured Nigerians that the delays that marred the delivery of election materials in previous elections will not be repeated in the 2027 General Elections.
He said the Commission was taking steps to ensure the timely delivery of materials to polling units across the country.
“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.
The INEC Chairman also disclosed that the Commission was working to improve its electoral technology and logistics.
According to him, the voter threshold for deploying additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines had been reduced from 1,250 to 850 voters per polling unit.
