2023: INEC seeks timely release of funds

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has expressed hope that funds due to the commission will be released on time so as to aid its preparations for the elections.

The commission had on December 20, 2021, presented a budget of N305bn to the National Assembly, saying this was independent of the N40bn yearly budget of the commission, which includes expenditure for off-season elections. Yakubu noted that N100bn had been released to the commission, remaining N205bn.

When asked for an update on the commission’s level of preparation, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Festus Okoye, said, “The commission has defended its 2023 budget before the Appropriations Committee of the National Assembly.

“We are hopeful that funds due to the commission will be released on time. One of the new innovations in the bill is for funds of the commission to be released at least a year to a general election. We hope that the approving and releasing authorities will follow this timeline in the release of funds to the commission.”

INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, had recently said the N140bn was broken into two. “We take it that N40bn is our regular budget as an agency of government and N100bn is the first tranche of the 2022 budget. We have gone ahead to make provisions accordingly,” he added.

In a related development, the commission has said it will procure no fewer than 200,000 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, which the commission says would more or less replace the card readers in future elections.

The commission had said the BVAS, first deployed during the November 6, 2021 Anambra State governorship election, would be used for voter registration, accreditation and uploading polling unit results to the result-viewing portal.

Okoye had said, “BVAS allows us to use one machine for the purposes of voter registration, accreditation – fingerprint and facial authentication – and uploading of polling unit results to our result-viewing portal. So, it’s a three-in-one solution. We are confident that the BVAS will perform well and it will be the dominant means of accreditation going forward.”

But in the recent interview, Okoye said, “The BVAS is part of our docket for the 2023 general elections. The commission will procure at least 200,000 BVAS to serve the 176, 846 Polling units in Nigeria plus redundancies.

“The commission will continue to upload polling unit results to its result viewing portal. However, the new bill removed impediments and obstacles to the electronic collation of results and the commission will continue to urge all the parties concerned to put the national interest first in their approach to the resolution of the current impasse relating to the amendment to the electoral legal framework.”

Part of the activities Yakubu said would be sorted before the 2023 elections include the replacement of ballot boxes, voting cubicles, printing of permanent voter cards and procurement of critical election technology needed for the elections.

Speaking on the much awaited 2023 election timetable that INEC promised to release after the Anambra governorship election, Okoye said the commission was working on the timetable and schedule of activities for the general election.

He said the commission was preparing for the February 12 Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections, eight pending federal and state constituency bye-elections and the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states.

He, however, promised that the chairman of the commission would address the nation as soon as the commission concludes work on the timetable and schedule of activities.