The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has introduced a separate salary structure for its personnel as part of measures to improve staff welfare and accountability ahead of the 2027 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja while presenting the commission’s preparations for the elections at a World Press Conference.
Amupitan said the commission had taken “some very radical steps” to prioritise the welfare of its personnel, arguing that better remuneration was necessary to demand greater accountability from staff.
“INEC staff are the least paid in Nigeria. So, we felt if we want to demand and hold our staff responsible, we should give them a living wage,” he said.
According to the INEC chairman, the commission was no longer operating under the civil service payment structure and had established separate electoral and salary structures for its workforce.
“We are not called civil servants. What we have learned under the civil service payment structure, which we have just removed INEC from, is to have their own separate structure, electoral structure, and separate salary structure from the civil service,” Amupitan said.
He said the commission had identified several gaps in the electoral system and was taking measures to address them before the 2027 elections.
“There are many others that we have discovered. And we felt that if they address all, it will be able to solve some of the problems we have with the system,” he said.
On election reruns, Amupitan said INEC was already making provisions for such contests as part of its preparations for the 2027 polls.
He described rerun elections as a constitutional requirement, saying the commission must make adequate plans for them whenever necessary.
“The issue of rerun is a constitutional matter. And as we are planning for the election, you have to plan for a rerun,” he said.
Amupitan added that the Constitution provided the procedures and protocols for conducting rerun elections.
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