INEC Staff Are Least Paid Workers in Nigeria, Says Amupitan

Amupitan has claimed that INEC Staff are the least paid Workers in Nigeria.

NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has said staff of the commission are among the least-paid workers in Nigeria.

Amupitan disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja while presenting INEC’s preparations for the 2027 general elections at a World Press Conference.

The INEC chairman said the commission had taken steps to improve the welfare of its personnel, stressing that better remuneration was necessary to ensure staff remained accountable in carrying out their responsibilities.

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“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,” Amupitan said.

He said INEC had consequently taken “some very radical steps” to prioritise the welfare of its personnel.

According to Amupitan, the commission is no longer operating under the conventional civil service payment structure, as it now has a separate electoral and salary structure.

“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,” he said.

The INEC chairman also disclosed that the commission had identified several gaps within the electoral system and was taking steps to address them ahead of 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.

INEC Plans for Election Reruns

On rerun elections, Amupitan said INEC was already making provisions for them as part of its preparations for the 2027 general elections.

He described reruns as a constitutional requirement that must be incorporated into the commission’s election planning.

“The issue of rerun is a constitutional matter. And as we are planning for the election, you have to plan for a rerun,” Amupitan said.

He added that the Constitution provides the procedures and protocols for conducting rerun elections.