INEC's Amupitan Addresses Election Material Delays for 2027

Prof. Joash Amupitan, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), warned against threats and violence towards election personnel ahead of the 2027 general elections during an engagement with stakeholders in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He stated that INEC is committed to protecting its personnel, including ad-hoc staff and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members.

The commission has enhanced its security measures through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) and introduced an intelligence-led framework called “ICCES Tentacle” to address security threats. Amupitan noted that the South-South geopolitical zone has 15,823,550 registered voters, with Rivers State having 3,736,434.

INEC has completed nine of the 14 critical milestones for the elections scheduled for January 16 and February 6. To tackle the issue of late arrival of election materials, INEC has finalized a Memorandum of Understanding with the Maritime Transporters Union to improve logistics for riverine communities and distributed pickup vehicles to enhance operational capacity.