Amupitan Says Commission Will Separate Staff Salary Structure From Civil Service
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, has said the commission is taking steps to improve staff welfare and strengthen its technology ahead of the 2027 elections.
Speaking at a press conference and national stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, Amupitan said INEC staff were the “least paid in Nigeria”, adding that the commission had taken steps to prioritise their welfare.
He said INEC had been removed from the civil service payment structure to establish a separate salary structure for its personnel.
Amupitan also disclosed that INEC had established a dedicated Artificial Intelligence division within its Information and Communications Technology department.
He said AI auditing tools had been integrated into the results verification process under a five-pillar AI governance framework, with mandatory human oversight.
According to him, the commission is also developing an AI governance policy and working with international technology partners to deploy AI-driven tools for detecting anomalies and combating fake news.
Amupitan said INEC was upgrading its Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices and other election technologies ahead of the 2027 polls.
Meanwhile, the commission said the first phase of the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards had commenced at local government centres.