INEC Chairman Laments Poor Pay, Says Staff Are Among Nigeria’s Lowest-Paid Workers

Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has raised alarm over the poor remuneration of the commission’s personnel, declaring that its staff are among the least-paid workers in Nigeria.

Amupitan said improved remuneration was essential to strengthening accountability and enhancing the integrity of the electoral process ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He made the remarks on Tuesday in Abuja while presenting INEC’s preparations for the 2027 elections at a press conference and national stakeholders’ meeting.

He said INEC had taken what he described as “very radical steps” to improve the welfare of its personnel, arguing that the commission could not demand greater responsibility from its workers without providing them with a living wage.

“INEC staff are the least paid in Nigeria. So we felt that if we want to demand and hold our staff responsible, we should give them a living wage. And that is why we have taken some very radical steps to ensure that the welfare of INEC staff is prioritised,” he said.

According to the INEC chairman, the commission has also been removed from the civil service payment structure and will now operate a separate electoral and salary structure for its workforce.

“We are not called civil servants, but we have been lumped under the civil service payment structure, which we have just removed INEC from, to have its own separate electoral structure and a separate salary structure from the civil service,” Amupitan maintained.

The INEC boss said the salary reform was one of several gaps identified within the electoral system which the commission was addressing to improve the quality of election management.

“So those are some of the gaps. There are many others that we have discovered, and we felt that if addressed, quality will improve,” he added.

Beyond staff welfare, Amupitan revealed that INEC had established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence division within its ICT department as part of measures to strengthen the integrity of the 2027 elections.

He said automated AI auditing tools had been integrated into the results verification process under a five-pillar AI governance framework, with mandatory human oversight.

“The commission has established a dedicated artificial intelligence division within the ICT department. Automated AI auditing tools have been integrated into our results verification process, under a five-pillar AI governance framework, operating under mandatory human oversight,” he said.

Amupitan added that INEC was finalising its AI governance policy and working with international technology partners to deploy AI-driven anomaly detection tools, particularly in the verification of election results.

He also said the commission was upgrading its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices as part of its broader effort to strengthen election technology before the 2027 polls.

Meanwhile, INEC has fixed October 9 for the commencement of the first phase of Permanent Voter Card distribution at all local government centres, adding another major step to its preparations for next year’s elections.