The Independent National Electoral Commission’s request for N305 billion for the 2023 general elections seems repugnant to many Nigerians. According to the Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the money was distinct from the N40 billion annual allocation of the electoral body. He indicated that while N100 billion had been issued to the commission out of the overall proposed expenditure, it would not be sufficient for adequate preparation towards 2023.
Yakubu said the requested amount would enable the electoral body to prepare for the election and procure all the necessary election materials, as well as cover several by-elections across the country. The N305 billion represents a 60.34 per cent increase over the N189 billion spent on the 2019 polls, and 153.33 per cent higher than the N120 billion expended on that of 2015. According to the schedule issued by the electoral commission, the general election will begin in February 2023.
This takes the total funding of the agency to N345 billion, an amount, we believe, similar to the proposal by the National Population Commission, may not be in sync with the country’s present economic realities. The sole distinction between the request by both agencies is that while elections must hold to evade a constitutional crisis in the country, the census can be postponed to a subsequent date, just as is being done since 2016.
In his address, the INEC chairman remarked that so far N140 billion had been made available to the electoral body. “The N140 billion was broken into two, we take it that N40 billion is our regular budget as an agency of government and N100 billion was the first tranche of the 2022 budget, and we have gone ahead to make provisions accordingly”.
We strongly think that the N305 billion called for by the electoral umpire apart from its N40 billion annual budget is very expensive and needs to be evaluated downward. This is because the dangerous economic atmosphere in Nigeria calls for restraint in the administration of resources because of contending needs.
While we call on the Federal Government to ensure satisfactory financing of INEC to enable it to plan appropriately for a hitch-free general election in 2023, it will be tantamount to fantasy and self-trickery if we fail to recognise the subtle economic climate of the nation. Nigeria’s economy is barely hanging by a thread and the requested N305 billion may not be achievable at this time.
Therefore, both the INEC and the Federal Government should adopt a keen patriotism towards the country by seeking the immediate and most appropriate solution to this risk of economic loss. Furthermore, the electoral umpire should establish a budget evaluation committee to ensure that the budget is reduced to a much more sustainable amount.
Nigerians are, undoubtedly, worried about the accelerating cost of conducting elections in the country, aggravated by so many line components we deem superfluous if things were to go as they do in organised climes. We have not seen the line items for which the commission is requesting appropriation, but would expect it to consist of security, a repository of electoral materials, and logistics for personnel, both staff and ad hoc.
The situation has not been supported by the dawdling insecurity across the nation and the do-or-die attitude of politicians that now seems fatal, owing to the absence of political resolve by the government, which came into leadership through the same process. It is a shame that Nigeria continues to conduct elections the antique way rather than adopting the electronic voting technique to appreciably curtail electoral violence, rigging, vote-buying by politicians and their associates.
We wonder, for instance, how much longer we must wait for our country to conduct polls without inhibiting movements of goods and humans and shutting down its economy in the process, or when there will be no bloodletting because some characters must take up office. We look forward to the time when Nigerians will be online to vote transparently.
Going by statistics assembled from the Appropriation Bills of 30 state governments across the country, only states like Lagos, the nation’s economic capital (N1.388 trillion), and Ogun (N350.74 billion); as well as the quartet of oil-rich Rivers (N483 billion), Akwa Ibom, N582.115 billion), Bayelsa (N311 billion), and Delta (N469.5 billion), outweigh the sum requested by INEC.
Indeed, the cost is way above the total of what is to be spent in 2022 by a combination of states like Osun (N129.7 billion), Abia (N131.8 billion), Kogi (N141.89 billion), and Ebonyi (N148.65 billion). Though the commission is introducing an advanced technology that will take care of voter registration issues, accreditation of voters, and uploading and transmission of electoral results, its efficacy remains unresolved as many of the devices malfunctioned in the Anambra poll.
Since the requested amount has been approved, INEC must ensure that the country gets the best. Although we are asking Yakubu and his team to set a template for free votes, we are not unaware of the dishonesty of politicians in their elements. These are, undeniably, age-long and the INEC boss must explore means of checkmating electoral crooks and begin to measure his performance by the number of elections he conducts which go undisputed before the courts.
But we are also concerned about the position of other organisations that associate with the electoral umpire, such as security agents who play reciprocal roles. We believe that everyone would understand the significance of this year as an electoral year. The Federal Government should equally release sufficient funds to all organisations that play a key part in the electoral process.