INEC staff Nigeria’s least paid workers, says Amupitan

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, has said the commission’s workers are among the least-paid employees in Nigeria.

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

He said the commission had taken steps to improve the welfare of its personnel, arguing that better remuneration was necessary to ensure greater accountability among 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,” Amupitan said.

According to him, INEC had been removed from the civil service payment structure and now operates 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.

Amupitan also said the commission had identified several gaps within the electoral system and was taking measures to address them.

“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.