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

Amupitan made the disclosure 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, stressing that better remuneration would help promote 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.

The INEC chairman explained that the commission 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 disclosed that INEC had identified several gaps in the electoral system and was taking measures 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 added.