The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested suspects allegedly linked to a plot to attack National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members and other ad hoc personnel ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Tuesday in Enugu during the commission’s South-East zonal interactive meeting with staff and readiness assessment for the 2027 elections.
Amupitan said intelligence provided by the DSS helped uncover the alleged plot, adding that those arrested would soon be prosecuted.
He said the commission was working with security agencies to protect election personnel and prevent attacks during the polls.
As part of efforts to strengthen security, the INEC chairman announced plans to convene a security conference to address emerging threats and improve preparations for the elections.
He added that the commission had strengthened its partnership with the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security and was working with security agencies at national and state levels to develop an intelligence-driven security framework.
According to him, INEC is also deploying its Election Risk Management tools to identify potential threats and improve security arrangements ahead of the elections.
Beyond security, Amupitan directed a review of Continuous Voter Registration records in the South-East and ordered the removal of obstacles delaying the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards.
He said the measures were intended to ensure that eligible voters were not denied their voting rights because of administrative or logistical problems.
“The primary operational focus in the South-East is to review our local CVR records and dismantle every bottleneck affecting Permanent Voter Card distribution,” he said.
Amupitan disclosed that Nigeria’s national register of voters had surpassed 103 million following three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise conducted between August 2025 and July 2026.
He said the first phase, which ran from August 25 to December 10, 2025, recorded 2,611,266 registrants, while the second phase, held between January 5 and April 17, 2026, added 4,121,835.
The third phase, conducted from May 11 to July 26, 2026, recorded another 3,867,997 registrants, bringing the total number of new registrants to 10,772,421.
However, he said the figures were subject to final verification through the Automated Biometric Identification System at the commission’s national headquarters.
The chairman also said INEC introduced an online registration portal during the third phase to make voter registration more accessible by reducing the challenges associated with distance and time.
He added that the commission had activated printable PVC technology in line with Section 18(1) of the Electoral Act 2026 to reduce delays in obtaining voter cards.
Amupitan said the Enugu meeting was the third stop on INEC’s nationwide election-readiness assessment tour, following engagements in Lagos on September 7 and Kaduna on September 28.
On election result management, he said the commission was improving its systems, including the newly introduced eEC8A electronic verification platform, to strengthen the verification of results from polling units to national collation centres through the INEC Result Viewing Portal.
He also disclosed that INEC had procured and distributed operational pickup vehicles to state offices and local government areas nationwide.
The commission was also procuring official vehicles for administrative secretaries and had established an Electoral Logistics Committee to coordinate preparations for the elections, he said.
On staff development, Amupitan said INEC was strengthening training through physical programmes and information and communications technology-based tools.
He added that the commission had introduced the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure, effective January 1, 2026, and was at an advanced stage of implementing a new salary and welfare package for staff, commission members and resident electoral commissioners.
Monthly overhead allocations to state offices had also been increased by 150 per cent from July 1, 2026, he said.
Amupitan urged electoral officials to understand the law, remain impartial, document their actions and protect the integrity of the electoral process.
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