By George Mgbeleke<\/p>\n
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has charged staff members of the commission to work selflessly and uphold the highest standards of integrity, saying the commission cannot afford to fail Nigerians in the upcoming 2027 general elections.<\/p>\n
Prof. Amupitan stated this on Friday in Minna, Niger State, during an official working visit and interactive session with the commission\u2019s management and staff at the state headquarters.<\/p>\n
Prof. Amupitan, warning staff members against any form of compromise, noted that the attention of Nigerians and the international community\u2014including the African Union and foreign Election Observation Missions\u2014was already focused on Nigeria\u2019s upcoming electoral process.
\n\u201cNote that you are our ambassadors and you cannot afford to fail. The general election is coming up on Jan. 16 for the presidential and National Assembly elections, and Feb. 6 for the governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections.
\n\u201cThe whole world, not just Nigerians, is looking up to INEC. I just returned from an African Union meeting in Egypt involving all the EMBs (Electoral Management Bodies) in Africa, and everyone expressed their desire to come and monitor Nigeria\u2019s elections.
\n\u201cSo, the whole world is watching us. We must conduct the election in a highly professional manner,\u201d he said.
\nAmupitan assured staff that the commission was working assiduously to improve logistics, infrastructure, and transport fleets across all state offices ahead of the polls.
\n\u201cWe do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past. My goal is to ensure that we improve on our performance continuously,\u201d he added.
\nReflecting on his journey nine months after assuming office, the INEC Chairman reaffirmed his commitment to rebuilding public trust in the commission through transparent, free, fair, and credible elections.
\nHe stressed that the commission\u2019s resolve to build a revitalised INEC capable of earning the confidence of Nigerians could only be achieved through the dedication and integrity of field personnel at the grassroots.
\nAmupitan announced that while hard work would be recognised and rewarded, administrative misconduct would attract strict sanctions.
\n\u201cWe must learn from the lessons of past elections. There should be no compromise whatsoever. We have decided to introduce rewards for hard work, but if there is any misconduct, there will be serious consequences.
\n\u201cWork hard, work selflessly, shun corruption, and let us give the Nigerian people what they truly desire,\u201d he urged.
\nOn employee welfare, the INEC chief revealed that the commission has commenced a comprehensive review of staff packages across the country to boost morale and foster optimal performance.
\nHe recalled that when he assumed office, he identified staff welfare as one of the most critical areas requiring urgent intervention.
\n\u201cWe play a pivotal role in ensuring that Nigeria moves into the comity of developed nations. This can only happen if our political system is stable, and that stability depends largely on our independence and performance as an electoral body.
\n\u201cWhen I assumed office, I discovered that the welfare package for INEC staff was among the lowest in the country.
\n\u201cTo boost your morale, the commission decided to take this issue head-on. When the results begin to manifest, you will appreciate our commitment,\u201d he assured staff members.
\nAmupitan also monitored the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration exercise at a centre located within the office headquarters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, has charged staff members of the commission to work selflessly and uphold the highest standards of integrity, saying the commission cannot afford to fail Nigerians in the upcoming 2027 general elections. Prof. Amupitan stated this on Friday in Minna, Niger […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15916"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15917,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15916\/revisions\/15917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}