ABUJA — Senator Victor Umeh has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to recruit and train more permanent personnel ahead of Nigeria's 2027 general elections, arguing that the commission should gradually reduce its dependence on temporary election workers.

Umeh, who represents Anambra Central in the Senate and is seeking reelection on the Nigeria Democratic Congress platform, made the call on Friday during an interview on Channels Television's Politics Today.

The senator argued that greater reliance on properly trained permanent INEC employees would improve accountability and strengthen public confidence in the administration of elections.

He also raised concerns about the movement and deployment of electoral personnel across states, warning that such practices could create suspicion about the neutrality of the electoral process.

“So if you continue to move electoral personnel from one state to another place on the request of authorities, that type of juggling erodes confidence. You cannot be doing such a thing,” Umeh said.

UMEH RAISES CONCERNS OVER AD HOC DEPLOYMENT

Umeh alleged that attempts had been made during previous elections to influence the deployment of temporary personnel in favour of powerful political interests.

He did not provide specific evidence during the interview to substantiate the allegation or identify individuals allegedly involved.

The senator said his concerns were based on his years of participation in Nigeria's political and electoral processes.

He argued that temporary election workers do not face the same level of institutional accountability as permanent employees of the commission.

“An ad hoc staff is a temporary staff. He comes on duty, does what he wants to do, makes money, and goes away,” Umeh said.

He urged INEC to use its ongoing recruitment exercise to substantially expand its permanent workforce.

INEC officially announced a permanent staff recruitment exercise in July 2026 as preparations continue for upcoming elections.

The commission nevertheless continues to recruit temporary personnel for electoral duties.

Its election staffing system includes Presiding Officers, Assistant Presiding Officers, Supervisory Presiding Officers and Registration Area Centre managers.

INEC's review of the 2023 general election said more than one million ad hoc election officials were recruited for those polls.

SENATOR WANTS INEC STAFF TO HANDLE COLLATION

Umeh also questioned the longstanding practice of appointing people from outside INEC, including university academics, to perform important collation and returning officer responsibilities.

He argued that INEC should develop enough internal capacity for trained commission employees to perform those functions.

“At this time, employ a lot of people and train them, so that at least at the collation level, it will not be going to tertiary institutions to bring university professors to come and do collation and become returning officers,” he said.

Umeh said keeping responsibility within INEC would make it easier to establish accountability when disputes arise over the conduct of elections.

“INEC should be able to have its own trained personnel to be collation officers and be returning officers, so that anything that happens starts and ends with INEC,” he said.

He questioned why the commission should bring academics from universities in other parts of the country to serve as returning officers when permanent personnel could be trained to perform the same duties.

INEC HAS DEFENDED STRUCTURED RECRUITMENT SYSTEM

INEC's existing framework recognises permanent staff and ad hoc personnel as separate categories of election officials.

The commission says temporary election officials are recruited according to established procedures and are governed by rules and guidelines covering their conduct during elections.

INEC also operates digital systems for recruiting, training and deploying temporary election personnel.

Its election technology framework includes systems designed to manage both polling personnel and senior election officials, with the commission saying the technology is intended to improve transparency, accountability and efficiency in recruitment and deployment.

INEC has not announced plans to abolish its use of ad hoc election personnel.

Umeh's proposal would therefore represent a significant change to the commission's longstanding staffing model if adopted.

With the 2027 general elections approaching, the senator said increasing INEC's permanent manpower and strengthening training should form part of broader efforts to improve confidence in Nigeria's electoral system.