N100bn inadequate for 2023 polls – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that the N100 billion given as a first tranche for the conduct of the 2023 general elections would not be enough.

Its chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who made the declaration Friday during a budget defence with the Senate Committee on INEC, said N189 billion was appropriated for the Commission for conduct of the 2019 general elections.

According to him, based on the 2019 budgetary template, it cannot be N100 billion only for 2023 general elections aside from the traditional N40 billion yearly budget.

He said: “We are already in touch with the Federal Ministry of Finance on the additional requirements for the 2023 general elections. Either we come to the National Assembly to defend the budget before the Committee or we would do what we did in 2019, when the executive just submitted the proposal to the National Assembly and we came to defend it.

“We would need more money because we’ve expanded our polling units and we are introducing new technology for elections among many other new innovations. The number of registered voters will increase beyond the 84 million for the 2019 general elections.

“Some of the things we needed would require four months, some five months while some would require seven months. We will start early preparations now that we have the money early enough and we will just buy sensitive materials for the election.

“We hired 34, 000 vehicles for the 2019 elections; so we have plans to also outsource the material distribution in 2023, because we can not afford the cost of buying such a huge number of vehicles and engaging the drivers that would drive them.”

Breaking the projected expenses, he said electoral operational and recurrent cost is (conduct of polls) N7.3 billion for the procurement of non-sensitive materials and logistics.

“We also budgetted N7 billion for the conduct of the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, including the possibility of run-offs and we made a provision of N2.6 billion for Ekiti state with a population of over one million registered voters and N4.4 billion for Osun with 30 local government areas.

“We are earmarking N4.2 billion for the continuous registration exercise in 2,700 centres and monitoring of party congresses and campaign activities will gulp N619 million. I am not sure it would be adequate. We are monitoring party congresses and primaries right from the ward levels by direct means.

“We have 8,809 wards and 18 political parties. We have different types of elections; presidential, senatorial, House of Representatives, and states’ constituency primaries. If they would be done by direct means, we have to make preparations for it.

“We have 993 state constituencies; so, if parties are going to nominate their candidates we are going to monitor in all the locations. 109 senatorial districts, 360 House of Representatives and 28 governorship elections because eight are being conducted off season.

“We will monitor party primaries for the nomination of candidates in over 1, 400 constituencies so the cost would be enormous. We have earmarked N2 billion for litigation and prosecution. This has become a real burden on the Commission.

“In the last 27 elections we have conducted, none has been successfully litigated in court including Edo and Ondo. There are more litigations arising from the conduct of party primaries. Voter education and enlightenment is N1 billion around new polling units we just created and our new innovations.”