2027: INEC Seeks Release of Outstanding Funds to Ensure Seamless Elections
The Independent National Electoral Commission has urged the Federal Government to release the outstanding portion of its budget promptly, saying the funds are critical to the seamless conduct of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash O. Amupitan, SAN, made the appeal on Tuesday in Abuja at a World Press Conference and National Stakeholders’ Meeting organised to mark 100 days to the first ballot.
Amupitan said timely access to the remaining funds would enable the commission to complete outstanding preparations for the elections.
“We expect the prompt release of the remaining budget to ensure seamless execution of the remaining activities,” he said.
The INEC chairman, however, acknowledged the Federal Government’s continued commitment to democratic governance through the timely release of statutory allocations to the commission.
He said the funds released so far had enabled INEC to meet international vendor obligations, finance the production of critical election technology, upgrade physical infrastructure and sustain multi-stakeholder operational deployments nationwide.
The call for adequate funding received support from the European Union Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, who urged stakeholders to facilitate INEC’s work, including by ensuring that its financial requirements were met.
“This is a Herculean task,” Mignot said.
The EU envoy also clarified that the bloc would maintain neutrality in Nigeria’s electoral process, stressing that it neither supports specific candidates nor political parties.
“Ours is a friendly partnership, respectful of Nigerian sovereignty. We don’t impose any view or orientation. And needless to say, we don’t support specific candidates or parties,” he said.
Mignot disclosed that the EU would deploy an electoral mission comprising experts to monitor developments before, during and after the election and subsequently issue recommendations.
INEC Unveils AI Strategy
On the use of emerging technology, Amupitan disclosed that INEC had established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Division within its Information and Communication Technology Department.
He said the commission was integrating automated AI auditing tools into its results-verification process under a five-pillar AI Governance Framework, with mandatory human oversight.
According to him, INEC is also finalising a governance policy to regulate the application of AI in its electoral processes.
The commission, he added, was deploying AI-driven anomaly-detection tools to monitor database traffic and protect its public portals against cyber intrusions and unauthorised alterations.
Amupitan warned that the increasing availability of generative AI, voice cloning and deepfake technology posed a significant information-management challenge ahead of the elections.
He said the technologies could be used to fabricate the voices of election officials, manipulate result sheets and produce counterfeit official documents, with false content capable of spreading rapidly before verification.
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The INEC chairman therefore urged media organisations to establish dedicated fact-checking mechanisms and verify sensitive electoral information with the commission before publication.
“In national elections, it is far more important to be right than to be first,” he said.
INEC to Deploy 1.4m Ad Hoc Staff
Amupitan also disclosed that the commission would engage 707,384 ad hoc personnel for the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 2027, and an identical number for the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections on February 6.
This brings the projected number of engagements to 1,414,768 across 176,846 polling units nationwide, compared with about 1.2 million ad hoc personnel engaged during the 2023 elections.
He said the National Youth Service Corps would again provide a significant proportion of the temporary election workforce.
Amupitan recalled that more than 70 per cent of INEC’s ad hoc personnel in 2023—nearly 850,000 people—were corps members and student volunteers.
He said the INEC Portal for Recruitment of Election Staff opened on September 18 and would close at midnight on November 18.
The chairman further disclosed that the National Register of Voters now stood at 103 million following the registration of 10,772,421 new voters during the three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise.
He said the updated register would be displayed for public scrutiny from October 9 to 15, while the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards from Phase One would begin at local government centres on Friday, October 9.
According to Amupitan, 18 of the 22 registered political parties had submitted candidates for the presidential election.
He also disclosed that INEC received the certified true copy of the Supreme Court judgment in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party on Tuesday morning and was reviewing its implications.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, Adebayo Balogun, said the committee had written to INEC urging the commission to enforce the Supreme Court judgment relating to Section 74 of the Electoral Act.
Similarly, the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters Chairman, Simon Lalong, said responsibility for credible elections extended beyond INEC to political parties, candidates, security agencies, the media, civil society organisations and voters.
Police Intensify Security Preparations
The Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Francis Idu, who represented the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, said security operations were ongoing in Kogi, Niger, Benue and Taraba states to address emerging security flashpoints ahead of the election.
He said the operations were aimed at containing crises and creating a secure environment for the electoral process.
The National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, commended INEC for its conduct of the Osun State governorship election but cautioned commission officials against taking sides with political parties or candidates.
Dantalle also urged INEC to strengthen its engagement with political parties before elections, stressing the need for all stakeholders to prioritise national interest.
“This election will come and go, but Nigeria will remain,” he said.
By PRNigeria
