The Independent National Electoral Commission has opened its online portal for the recruitment of ad hoc staff for the 2027 general elections, giving Nigerians roughly two months to apply for temporary roles that will run the vote at the polling unit level.
According to a public notice issued by the commission on Thursday, the portal, known as INECPRES, opened at 8am on Friday, 18 September 2026 and closes at midnight on Wednesday, 18 November 2026. The commission said applications should be completed through its official website, with the recruitment feeding into two separate polls.
The Presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for 16 January 2027, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections hold on 6 February 2027. Ad hoc staff are temporary personnel who are recruited, trained and deployed for a specific election, then released once the exercise ends.
The scale of the exercise is considerable. INEC has said it will deploy about 1.4 million ad hoc personnel across more than 176,000 polling units nationwide, the largest election workforce in the country’s history.
The precise figures come from the commission itself. In earlier disclosures, INEC put the requirement at 707,384 ad hoc staff for the January presidential and National Assembly poll, and the same number again for the February governorship and assembly poll, giving a combined total of 1,414,768. The commission’s acting chairman, Prof Rhoda Gumus, told an African Union pre election assessment mission in Abuja on Tuesday that the personnel would be spread across 176,846 polling units as the voter register moves towards the 100 million mark.
That represents a clear rise on the last general election. INEC has said it deployed about 1.2 million ad hoc staff in 2023, with more than 70 per cent of that workforce, nearly 850,000 people, drawn from members of the National Youth Service Corps and student volunteers. The commission has indicated that corps members will again make up the bulk of the 2027 workforce.
On who can apply, the commission said eligibility varies by position, institution, employment status and educational background. According to the public notice, potential applicants include serving NYSC members, former corps members who meet the stated conditions, students of federal and state tertiary institutions, eligible federal and state government employees, permanent staff of ministries, departments and agencies, qualified INEC personnel, eligible ICT personnel, and staff of institutions designated to host Registration Area Centres. Applicants are advised to confirm the specific conditions for their preferred role before applying.
The recruitment covers several categories. The commission listed Supervisory Presiding Officers, Presiding Officers, Assistant Presiding Officers, Registration Area Centre Managers and Registration Area Technical Support personnel, known as RATECHs.
For Supervisory Presiding Officers, the notice covers eligible personnel from the federal public and civil service and from MDAs, listing public sector employees within Grade Level 10 to 14 among those who may qualify, subject to conditions. Serving corps members are also included, while former corps members may qualify where their service falls within the period specified by the commission. The notice gives 2024, 2025 and 2026 as examples of service years falling within the three year window before the election.
The Presiding Officer and Assistant Presiding Officer categories are open to eligible students of tertiary institutions and to certain government employees. According to the notice, requirements for students vary by year of study, while permanent staff of federal and state MDAs holding OND or NCE qualifications are included under specified conditions. The commission set out different salary grade requirements, including GL 07 to 10 and GL 07 to 14, depending on the category.
The Registration Area Centre Manager role is tied to schools and other institutions hosting RACs or Super RACs. The notice states that the head of such a school, or a staff member of the hosting institution, may qualify subject to the requirements, including a Grade Level 07 and above condition. The RATECH category targets applicants with ICT and technical backgrounds, and the notice lists eligible INEC ICT staff at state and headquarters level who are not on other duties, as well as IT students of tertiary institutions.
The commission set out a straightforward application process. Applicants are to visit the INECPRES portal or reach it through the INEC website, read the instructions and eligibility requirements, select an eligible position, then enter their personal, educational and employment details accurately before reviewing and submitting. INEC advised applicants to keep their registration details for future reference and to apply well before the deadline rather than wait until the closing day.
For enquiries relating to the platform, the notice states that INEC’s IT Service Management runs a 24 hour helpdesk, reachable through the 0700 CALL INEC vanity number or by email at inecpress@inec.gov.ng.