2027: INEC suspends staff leave, threatens sanctions over negligence, partisanship

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has ordered its personnel to suspend further annual leave ahead of the 2027 general elections, warning that staff who engage in negligence, absenteeism or political partisanship will face sanctions.

INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, issued the directive on Friday during a readiness assessment meeting with commission staff in Lokoja, Kogi State.

“Partisanship, negligence, financial impropriety and absenteeism would attract decisive sanctions,” he said.

He charged officials to demonstrate greater discipline and commitment, directing Resident Electoral Commissioners and Administrative Secretaries to enforce strict attendance and accountability measures.

The warning comes as INEC prepares to conduct elections involving more than 103 million registered voters across 176,846 polling units.

The presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while governorship and state assembly elections will hold on February 6.

Beyond the warning, Amupitan announced a series of welfare and logistical measures, including a new salary structure, improved allowances and increased funding for state offices.

He said the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure took effect on January 1, 2026, while processes for its cash-backing were ongoing.

The chairman also disclosed that salary, hazard and field allowances had been enhanced, while monthly overhead allocations to state offices were increased by 150 per cent from July 1, 2026.

On logistics, he said operational pick-up vehicles had been distributed to state and local government offices, with 20 new Sports Utility Vehicles procured for Resident Electoral Commissioners.

Administrative Secretaries are also expected to receive vehicles.

Amupitan further disclosed that INEC was configuring 57,000 newly procured Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices to improve voter verification and accreditation.

He said the commission was also auditing its electronic result management systems, including the eEC8A verification platform, to support transparent transmission of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal.

On voter registration, the INEC chairman said printable Permanent Voter Cards and a digital PVC Location Portal had been activated.

He added that the preliminary voters’ register was available for public scrutiny, while the certified register would be published on December 15, 2026.

Addressing concerns over photographs appearing on the preliminary register, Amupitan said the data was still undergoing verification before the final register would be released.