INEC Defends N126bn Budget Request, Explains Personnel Costs

• INEC has defended its N126 billion budget request for 2025, stating that N85 billion is earmarked for personnel costs.

• Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, explained that the remaining funds will be used to finance electoral activities, including preparations for the 2027 general election.

• Yakubu also disclosed that 774 electoral offenders from the 2023 general election are facing prosecution across the country.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has defended its N126 billion budget request for 2025, stating that N85 billion is earmarked for personnel costs. INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the clarification while defending the 2025 budget proposal before the Joint Committee on Electoral Matters in the National Assembly.

Yakubu explained that the commission’s budget for 2024 was N40 billion, the same as in 2023, despite the increasing cost of electoral operations.

He stressed that not all the N126 billion would be allocated for elections. “N85 billion is for the payment of personnel costs of INEC for the year. So, we basically have a little over N40 billion for electoral activities.”

The INEC chairman further disclosed that 774 electoral offenders from the 2023 general election are facing prosecution across the country.

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He noted that the commission has been diligently pursuing the cases, including the successful prosecution of a Returning Officer in Akwa Ibom State.

“Through our collaboration with the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), cases involving 774 alleged offenders from the 2023 general election are being prosecuted,” Yakubu said.

INEC Deletes Over 7,000 Dead Voters From Register

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the deletion of 7,746 deceased voters from the national voter register in Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as of December 2022.

According to INEC’s voter education and publicity director, Victoria Etta-Messi, “Problems with official death records continue to make it very difficult for INEC to remove deceased registrants.”

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