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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, has said commission staff are the lowest-paid workers in the country.
INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan disclosed this on Tuesday during a World Press Conference in Abuja. He said better pay was necessary to improve staff accountability and performance before the 2027 general elections.
“INEC staff are the least paid in Nigeria. So, we felt if we want to demand and hold our staff responsible, we should give them a living wage,” Amupitan said.
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The INEC chairman said the commission had taken “some very radical steps” to improve staff welfare. He explained that INEC was no longer operating under the regular civil service payment structure.
According to him, the commission now has a separate electoral structure and salary structure.
“We are not called civil servants. What we have learned under the civil service payment structure, which we have just removed INEC from, is to have their own separate structure, electoral structure, and separate salary structure from the civil service,” he said.
Amupitan also said the commission had identified several gaps in Nigeria’s electoral system. He said INEC was taking steps to address the problems and improve the electoral process.
“There are many others that we have discovered. And we felt that if they address all, it will be able to solve some of the problems we have with the system,” he said.
The INEC chairman also addressed preparations for election reruns. He said the commission was already making provisions for rerun elections as part of its plans for the 2027 polls.
“The issue of rerun is a constitutional matter. And as we are planning for the election, you have to plan for a rerun,” Amupitan said.
He added that the Constitution provides the procedures and protocols for conducting rerun elections.
The commission has continued preparations for the 2027 general elections, with the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 2027.
