Elections in 2023 will cost N355 billion, according to INEC.

In front of the Senate Committee on INEC, which is chaired by former Kano State governor Kabiru Gaya, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), presented an estimated budget of N355 billion on Wednesday.

The INEC chairman had stated that his commission would need N305 billion as estimated spending for the 2023 election when presenting his budget forecast before the Senate Committee on Appropriations in December, which was later approved.

However, Professor Yakubu stated in the National Assembly on Wednesday that INEC would require an additional N50 billion for its 2023 annual budget.

The Senator Gaya-led committee’s budget included N2.6 billion in funding for the November 11, 2023, off-season governorship elections in the states of Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa.

The N2.6 billion would be spent on costs such printing ballots, result sheets, forms, and envelopes, logistics costs, honoraria for officials, supervision, RAC planning, security/intervention support, and other things, according to INEC.

According to INEC, the agency’s 2023 budget will include N50 million for the purchase of firefighting gear and N150 million, N250 million for the rehabilitation of commercial and residential structures.