The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan,, SAN, has warned that anyone who threatens, intimidates or harms the Commission’s ad-hoc staff, members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law.
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement ahead of the 2027 General Election.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners Directors and Technical Aides, said the South-South meeting was the fifth in the series of zonal assessments, following those held in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He said his physical presence at each zone reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, noting that “true electoral integrity is forged in the field”, across the 123 Local Government Areas of the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said the Commission had changed its approach from reactive, election-day deployments to an early, intelligence-led arrangement.
“We have moved away from reactive, election-day security deployments toward a proactive, intelligence-led security architecture that we term the ‘ICCES Tentacle.’ This framework extends inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters directly down to the most remote Local Government Areas and Registration Area Centres,” he said.
He identified three non-negotiable pillars of the framework: mapping and mitigating threats, ensuring safety, and guaranteeing access to polling units.
Explaining the second and third pillars, he said the arrangement would provide “a comprehensive protective umbrella over all electoral personnel, technological assets including BVAS devices and server infrastructure, and most importantly, the Nigerian voter.” It would also ensure that every polling unit, “regardless of geographical remoteness or historical security challenges”, remained “a safe, peaceful, and dignified sanctuary for the exercise of democratic rights.”
The Chairman disclosed that the South-South arrangement relies on approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES). The network brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states of the zone.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he said.
Prof. Amupitan said the South-South accounts for the fourth largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register. Rivers State alone has 3,736,434 registered voters across 23 Local Government Areas.
He said these figures represented “living citizens whose constitutional right to choose their leaders in a secure, transparent environment must be guaranteed without compromise.”
Giving an update on preparations, the Chairman said the Commission had executed nine of the 14 major statutory milestones in the timetable for the 2027 General Election, which will involve over 103 million registered voters and 176,846 polling units. The Presidential and National Assembly Elections hold on 16 January 2027, while the Governorship and State Assembly Elections are scheduled for 6 February 2027.
He noted that the Commission had finalised a Memorandum of Understanding with the Maritime Transporters Union to ensure the timely and secure deployment of personnel and materials to riverine and coastal communities. He added that new operational pick-up vehicles had been distributed to State and LGA offices nationwide.