The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has disclosed that its staff are among the least paid workers in Nigeria, prompting the commission to prioritise their welfare ahead of the 2027 general election.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, disclosed this during the commission’s World Press Conference/National Stakeholders Forum on preparations for the 2027 election.
Amupitan said the commission had taken “radical steps” to improve the welfare of its personnel, including removing INEC from the civil service payment structure and establishing a separate salary structure for its 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, and that is why we have taken some radical steps to ensure that the welfare of INEC staff is prioritised,” he said.
He added “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.”
INEC: We removed INEC staff from civil service salary structure over poor wages- Amupitan