The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has earmarked a total of N305 billion for the conduct of the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
The budgeted expenses will take care of polls logistics including presidential, 28 governorship, 109 senatorial districts, 360 federal constituencies and 993 state constituencies elections.
This was made available in a 2023 General Election Project Plan launched by INEC in Abuja, on Thursday.
In the project plan, the commission earmarked N239.2bn for the procurement of voting materials and vehicles that will be used in the 2023 general elections. This represents a total of 78.44% of the total N305bn budgeted for the forthcoming election.
The N239.2bn earmarked for procurement of voting materials and vehicles would cover 10 critical items which included ballot papers, operational vehicles, ballot boxes, allowances of ad hoc workers, printing of result sheets, logistics and procurement of accreditation devices.
Also, included in the N239.2bn budget is the N27.1bn set aside by the commission for possible run-off elections, including the one for the presidential poll.
Further breakdown of the 2023 General Election Project Plan, reveals that the procurement of accreditation devices will gulp N105.2bn, representing 34.51% of the total election budget of N305bn.
The allowance for ad hoc workers, who will be more than one million people, is pegged at N23.7bn while N23bn was set aside for election logistics expenses which include the movement, deployment and retrieval of men and materials for the elections.
The project plan also revealed that the electoral body will spend N20.6bn on the printing of ballot papers and N12.7bn on the procurement of non-sensitive materials. The commission set aside N9.5bn for the printing of result sheets, N7.8bn for the procurement of ballot boxes and a separate N5.39bn for the same purpose. The electoral body will also spend N3.9bn for the procurement of operational vehicles.
Speaking during the project presentation, Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said that the increment of the budget was to allow for seamless electioneering process for Nigerians.
According to him, about one million electoral officials, both regular and ad hoc staff, would be deployed to 176,846 polling units in 8,809 Wards and 774 Local Government Areas in the country.
In his words: “As you may be aware, the election will be conducted for 1,491 constituencies nationwide made up of one presidential constituency, 109 senatorial districts, 360 federal constituencies, 28 governorship elections and 993 state constituencies.
“The election will involve an estimated one million electoral officials (both permanent and temporary or ad hoc staff) deployed to 176,846 polling units in 8,809 Wards and 774 Local Government Areas across the country. The election will be governed by a new Electoral Act 2022, which contains many progressive provisions that will enhance the capacity of the commission to conduct elections and manage the electoral process better.
“We have carefully listened to the demand of Nigerians for seamless processes, particularly with regard to enhanced voter education, better distribution of voters to polling units, quality training of election personnel, the functionality of electronic devices, improved logistics, prompt commencement of polls, and availability of assistive devices for persons with disability at polling units and greater transparency in result management.
“Clearly, these are challenging times but we are determined that elections must hold in 2023. However, this is a shared responsibility. INEC plays a critical role but the commission alone cannot deliver the elections we all desire. I, therefore, appeal to all Nigerians to join hands with us in ensuring that we make a success of the process”, he added.
