INEC Chairman Amupitan Warns Against Attacks on Electoral Staff, Voes to Prosecute Offenders

INEC Chairman Amupitan Warns Against Attacks on Electoral Staff, Voes to Prosecute Offenders

By Our Reporter

Port Harcourt (Core Reporters) – The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN) has warned that anyone who threatens, intimidates or attacks the Commission’s ad-hoc staff, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members or permanent personnel during the 2027 General Election will face the full weight of the law.

Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, October 31, 2026, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 General Election.

He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.

“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 ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.

The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.

He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.

According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.

On election security, Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around Election Day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.

He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to Local Government Areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.

He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.

The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.

He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.

Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).

The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.

“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 stated.

Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had 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, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across 23 Local Government Areas.

He stressed that the figures represented citizens whose constitutional right to freely elect their leaders must be protected through a secure and transparent electoral process.

On preparations for the 2027 elections, Amupitan said INEC had completed nine of the 14 major statutory milestones contained in the election timetable.

The elections, he noted, would involve more than 103 million registered voters across 176,846 polling units nationwide.

The Presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections will hold on February 6, 2027.

To address transportation challenges in riverine and coastal communities, he disclosed that the Commission had concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the Maritime Transporters Union to facilitate the timely and secure movement of electoral personnel and materials.

He also said new operational pick-up vehicles had been distributed to INEC state and Local Government Area offices nationwide.

On staff welfare, the Chairman announced that the Commission had removed its workforce from the civil service salary structure under the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure, effective January 1, 2026.

He added that INEC had also approved a 150 per cent increase in monthly state overhead allocations, effective July 1, 2026.

Describing electoral personnel as critical to the credibility of the electoral process, Amupitan urged staff to demonstrate professionalism, discipline and commitment in the discharge of their duties.

“To our field staff: you are the true face of INEC,” he said.

He cautioned that administrative lapses, including late opening of polling units, poor staff conduct and unresolved technical challenges, could create opportunities for misinformation and undermine public confidence in the Commission.

“False narratives only gain traction when administrative execution falters,” he said.

He further maintained that effective field operations and transparent data management would strengthen the credibility of election results against attempts to distort public perception.

The INEC Chairman also warned that partisan conduct, negligence, financial impropriety and absenteeism would attract prompt disciplinary action.

Citing Section 26 of the Electoral Act 2026, which mandates an Oath of Neutrality for electoral personnel, he urged staff to allow the law and the Commission’s guidelines to guide their decisions and actions.

Earlier, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Rivers State, Dr. Johnson Alalibo Sinikiem, said the zonal engagement provided an opportunity to assess the Commission’s level of preparedness, identify operational shortcomings and develop practical measures to address them before Election Day.

He said the exercise went beyond routine reporting, stressing the need to establish clear priorities, monitor implementation and ensure that outstanding preparations were completed on schedule.

According to him, successful elections require deliberate planning, adequate resources, technological preparedness, competent personnel and effective engagement with stakeholders.

“The credibility of an election is determined not only by what happens on Election Day but also by the quality of preparations undertaken well in advance,” he said.

Sinikiem called for stronger collaboration between INEC headquarters and state offices, while urging personnel to remain vigilant against misinformation and disinformation.

He said public confidence in the electoral process depended largely on the ability of every staff member to understand and faithfully discharge assigned responsibilities.

Also speaking, the Director of Planning and Monitoring, Mrs. Helen Ajayi, outlined the objectives of the zonal engagement, including securing the support of traditional rulers for grassroots mobilisation, improving staff morale through welfare initiatives and assessing electoral preparedness across the South-South states.

She explained that the assessment would rely on situation reports covering election security, staff training, voter education and stakeholder engagement to identify operational and logistical challenges requiring urgent attention.

Ajayi said departmental presentations would focus on voter registration and Permanent Voter Card (PVC) collection, ICT deployment and management, human resource preparations, electoral operations, and the activities of the Public Relations and Monitoring Department.

Particular attention, she added, would be given to Electoral Risk Management and the monitoring of the Commission’s activities.

She urged state and Local Government Area personnel to strengthen cooperation in monitoring electoral preparations, identifying potential risk areas and addressing operational gaps ahead of the 2027 General Election.