The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it plans to deploy 1,414,768 ad hoc staff for Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, with members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) expected to make up the majority of the workforce.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, disclosed the figure during a visit to the NYSC headquarters in Abuja, where he highlighted the corps’ longstanding role in Nigeria’s electoral process.
According to Amupitan, INEC will require 707,384 ad hoc staff for the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 2027.
The same number will be required for the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections scheduled for February 6, bringing the total for the two election days to 1,414,768 personnel.
The proposed workforce represents an increase from the approximately 1.2 million ad hoc personnel deployed during the 2023 general elections.
Amupitan said more than 70 per cent of the 2023 workforce — nearly 850,000 people — came from NYSC members and student volunteers.
The INEC chairman described corps members as central to the commission’s field operations, particularly because of their roles as Presiding Officers and Registration Area Officers.
He said corps members accounted for nearly 90 per cent of those positions in many states during previous elections.
Beyond the 2027 general elections, INEC also expects to require another 52,446 corps members for off-cycle governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states as well as bye-elections in Nasarawa, Enugu, Rivers, Ondo, Kebbi and Kano states.
Amupitan also pointed to the digital skills of corps members, particularly in the operation of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
He said their digital proficiency had contributed to the operation of recent elections, including the Anambra governorship election and Federal Capital Territory Area Council polls.
The commission’s reliance on NYSC personnel also brings questions of welfare and security into focus.
Election duty can expose ad hoc personnel to difficult terrain and security risks, and Amupitan said INEC was working with security agencies to strengthen safety protocols while improving insurance and welfare arrangements for corps members deployed for elections.
The announcement comes as INEC continues preparations for the 2027 elections, with the commission expected to manage a nationwide electoral operation involving hundreds of thousands of polling personnel.
For voters, the scale of the proposed deployment illustrates the logistical challenge facing the electoral commission as Nigeria heads towards another nationwide election cycle.