The Department of State Services (DSS) has uncovered and arrested suspects allegedly linked to a plot to attack ad hoc personnel, particularly members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), ahead of the 2027 general election.

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Tuesday in Enugu during the commission’s South-East Zonal Interactive Meeting with Staff and Readiness Assessment for the 2027 general election.

He said INEC had identified potential security threats to its ad hoc staff and was working with security agencies to prevent attacks on election personnel.

According to the INEC chairman, intelligence provided by the DSS helped uncover the alleged plot, while those linked to it had been arrested and would soon be prosecuted.

He added that the commission planned to organise a security conference to address emerging threats and strengthen preparations for the 2027 elections.

Amupitan said INEC had reinvigorated its partnership with the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) and was working with security agencies at national and state levels to develop an intelligence-driven security framework.

The commission, he said, was also using its Election Risk Management tools to identify potential threats and strengthen security arrangements ahead of the polls.

Amupitan directed a review of Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) records in the South-East and ordered the removal of bottlenecks affecting the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the 2027 general election.

He said the exercise was aimed at ensuring that eligible voters who had registered were not disenfranchised by administrative or logistical challenges.

“The primary operational focus in the South-East is to review our local CVR records and dismantle every bottleneck affecting Permanent Voters Card (PVC) distribution,” the INEC chairman said.

“Our objective is uncompromising: no eligible citizen who registered should be disenfranchised by administrative or logistical friction,” he added.

Amupitan disclosed that the national register of voters currently stood at more than 103 million, following three phases of the CVR exercise conducted between August 2025 and July 2026.

According to him, the first phase, which ran from August 25 to December 10, 2025, registered 2,611,266 voters, while the second phase, conducted between January 5 and April 17, 2026, recorded 4,121,835 new registrants.

He said the third phase, held from May 11 to July 26, 2026, added 3,867,997 voters, bringing the total number of new registrants to 10,772,421.

The chairman, however, said the figures remained subject to final verification through the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) at the commission’s national headquarters.

He also disclosed that INEC introduced an online registration portal during the third phase to reduce barriers associated with distance and time.

Amupitan said the commission had equally activated printable PVC technology in line with Section 18(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, an innovation he said would reduce delays in obtaining voter cards.

He said the Enugu meeting was the third in a nationwide election-readiness assessment tour, following engagements in Lagos on September 7 and Kaduna on September 28.

He added that the commission was improving its result-management systems, including the newly introduced eEC8A electronic verification platform, to strengthen the verification of results from polling units to national collation centres through the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

On logistics, Amupitan said new operational pickup vehicles had been procured and dispatched to state offices and local government areas nationwide. He added that the commission was procuring official vehicles for administrative secretaries and had established an Electoral Logistics Committee to coordinate preparations.

He also said INEC was strengthening staff training through physical programmes and information and communications technology-based tools.

On welfare, the chairman disclosed that the commission had introduced the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure, effective January 1, 2026, and was at an advanced stage of implementing a new salary and welfare package for staff, commission members and resident electoral commissioners.

He said monthly overhead allocations to state offices had also been increased by 150 per cent from July 1, 2026.

Amupitan urged electoral officials to understand the law, remain impartial, document their actions and protect the integrity of the electoral process.