Sowore Demands ₦500,000 Wage for INEC Staff, Threatens 2027 Election Boycott
Abuja, Nigeria—October 6, 2026—African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has thrown his weight behind Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) staff, insisting they deserve a minimum monthly wage of ₦500,000 and warning that he will join any boycott of the 2027 general elections if their welfare is ignored.
In a strongly worded post on X late Tuesday, Sowore argued that electoral workers cannot be expected to protect the integrity of Nigeria’s elections while remaining poorly compensated. “Nigeria’s electoral workers must be well paid.
@inecnigeria staff cannot be expected to safeguard the integrity of our elections while being poorly compensated,” he wrote. “@inecnigeria staff deserve a minimum wage of ₦500,000.
Electoral integrity must begin with decent working conditions and a living wage for the people entrusted with administering our elections.”
Sowore went further, declaring: “If these workers continue to be treated with contempt, I will join them to boycott the 2027 elections.
They have every right to organize and demand better conditions, including through lawful industrial action. No decent wages, no credible elections! #SOWORE2027.”
Timing with INEC Chairman’s Admission
Sowore’s intervention came on the same day INEC Chairman Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan publicly acknowledged that commission staff rank among the lowest-paid workers in Nigeria.
Speaking at a world press conference and national stakeholders meeting in Abuja on preparations for the 2027 elections, Amupitan said the commission had taken “radical steps” to address the problem.
“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 stated.
He revealed that INEC has been removed from the general civil service salary structure and will now operate its own independent electoral salary framework.
Broader Context of Sowore’s Wage Advocacy
The call aligns with Sowore’s longstanding campaign promise of a nationwide ₦500,000 monthly living minimum wage if elected president in 2027.
He has repeatedly described the current national minimum wage of ₦70,000 as a “starvation wage” that no Nigerian can realistically live on, arguing that even his proposed figure is modest given the cost of living.
Sowore has maintained that the higher wage can be funded by cutting government waste, recovering unpaid oil royalties, and blocking financial leakages—estimates he has put at between ₦3 trillion and ₦4 trillion in potential savings.
Electoral integrity has remained a flashpoint in Nigerian politics. Critics have long linked poor remuneration of INEC personnel to vulnerabilities in the electoral process, including allegations of inducement and compromised neutrality.
By linking staff welfare directly to the credibility of the 2027 polls, Sowore has placed the issue at the centre of the emerging campaign conversation.
As Nigeria prepares for another high-stakes election cycle, the welfare of the thousands of permanent and ad-hoc electoral workers who administer the process is likely to attract increased scrutiny.
Whether the new salary structure announced by INEC will meet the expectations of staff—and of advocates like Sowore—remains to be seen.
For now, the AAC candidate has drawn a clear line: decent wages for electoral workers are non-negotiable if Nigeria hopes to deliver credible elections in 2027.
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