By Our Reporter, With Agency Reports
THE INDEPENDENT National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is yet to receive the budgetary allocation for preparations toward the 2027 general elections, raising concerns among stakeholders over the potential impact of delayed funding on the electoral process.
Although the commission insists the delay remains within the timeframe permitted by law, election stakeholders have warned that postponing the release of funds could force last-minute procurement, increase the risk of corruption, and undermine effective planning.
INEC National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education and Publicity, Malam Mohammed Haruna, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja during a cross-sectoral interactive session organised by the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA) in partnership with Legis360.
The session, which brought together political parties, civil society organisations and INEC officials, reviewed the recently concluded Ekiti governorship election and assessed preparations for the 2027 general elections.
Haruna said the commission had proposed a budget of N873.78 billion for the elections but had yet to receive any allocation.
He, however, explained that the development did not amount to a breach of the Electoral Act, 2026, which requires election funds to be released no later than six months before a general election.
Despite the delay, Haruna said preparations were already underway. He disclosed that INEC had begun arrangements to procure new election materials, including replacement Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and other equipment damaged, lost or not recovered after previous elections.
“Our Director of ICT just returned from China regarding procurement because not all the BVAS devices used during the last general elections were recovered. Orders need to be placed and these things take time,” he said.
He added that the commission also planned to conduct mock presidential election exercises to test its technology and prevent a recurrence of the technical glitches that affected the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal during the 2023 presidential election.
However, Executive Director of PAACA, Mr Ezenwa Nwagwu, warned that delaying the release of election funds could create avoidable emergencies that weaken electoral integrity.
According to him, late funding often compels institutions to adopt a “fire brigade” approach that increases opportunities for corruption and procedural shortcuts.
“Whenever you create an emergency situation, corruption is very close behind. When things are not done when they should be done, people resort to bypassing rules. That is a situation politicians like to exploit to diminish the credibility of the process,” he said.
Nwagwu stressed that early disbursement was particularly important because many election materials are sourced internationally and require lengthy procurement timelines.
He noted that INEC urgently needed to replace critical hardware, including BVAS devices damaged during flooding in Edo State in previous election cycles.
He urged civil society groups and the public to hold political actors accountable for delays that hamper the commission’s work rather than blaming INEC alone whenever logistical challenges arise.
On the cost of the elections, Haruna defended the proposed budget, arguing that Nigeria’s election expenditure remained modest when assessed on a per-voter basis.
“This N800 billion plus sounds humongous, but when you calculate the average cost per voter, it is about six dollars, which is reasonable for a country such as Nigeria,” he said, adding that heavy reliance on imported election materials and exchange rate fluctuations continued to drive costs.
Haruna also identified conflicting court orders as another major operational challenge, recalling that injunctions issued barely 24 to 48 hours before the Ekiti governorship election forced the commission to reconfigure its software and reprint election materials at short notice.
He said INEC was engaging judicial authorities to reduce such disruptions ahead of future elections.
The commissioner further assured Nigerians that the commission maintained strict data protection measures following recent reports of a data breach.
According to him, an electoral officer who deliberately leaked sensitive information had been suspended, while the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, the Police and the Department of State Services were handling investigations.
Reviewing the Ekiti governorship election, Haruna said the BVAS recorded a 98 per cent successful voter accreditation rate, with only minor technical issues involving elderly voters whose biometric features proved difficult to capture.
He, however, expressed concern over the persistence of vote-buying, describing it as one of the most troubling developments observed during the election.
Other participants at the meeting also called on INEC to institutionalise long-term training programmes for ad hoc staff, particularly members of the National Youth Service Corps, as part of efforts to strengthen election administration ahead of 2027.
