With 111 days remaining until the January 16, 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is facing mounting pressure over the non‑release of the balance of about N371 billion from its projected N873.78 billion election budget.
INEC received roughly N500 billion in June, representing more than half of the total budget. However, the commission still requires the outstanding funds to complete procurement and other critical preparations for the polls.
The funding gap is significant because several activities—such as the production and collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), procurement of electoral materials, deployment of technology, payment of contractors and nationwide logistics—require timely financial commitments.
The commission had proposed the following budget for the 2027 general elections:
- N379.75 billion for election operations
- N92.31 billion for administration
- N209.21 billion for technology
- N154.91 billion for election capital expenditure
- N42.61 billion for miscellaneous expenses
Stakeholders are questioning how the first tranche of N500 billion has been utilised, with inquiries about amounts already committed to procurement, payments made to contractors, funds earmarked for PVC production and distribution, expenditure on Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and other technology, logistics and transportation, staff training, voter education, and other election‑related commitments.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, said the commission had received more than N500 billion in late June but still had debts from previous elections, including about N6 billion owed to contractors and more than N140 billion outstanding from its statutory allocation for the previous election cycle. He added that the commission was already procuring additional BVAS devices and that ICT officials had travelled to China to finalise arrangements for the importation of BVAS equipment.
Director of Planning and Monitoring at INEC, Mrs Helen Ajayi, reported that the commission had made significant progress in implementing its 14‑point timetable for the 2027 elections. She noted that the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise and the display of the preliminary register of voters had been concluded, that the nationwide PDF register and CVR data synchronisation were ongoing, and that preparations for the collection of PVCs had commenced. Training of Grade Level 8 to 16 personnel at the state level and intensified voter education on voting procedures, accreditation, BVAS, PVC collection and election‑day processes were also underway.
Civil society groups and other stakeholders remain concerned that delays in the release of the remaining N371 billion could affect the pace and quality of implementation, underscoring the need for INEC to provide a clear picture of how the first tranche has been deployed and what obligations remain outstanding.
<small>Source: Vanguard News — read the original story there.</small>
