The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Thursday, told the National Assembly that the Commission would need a whopping N873.778 billion for the conduct of the 2027 general elections.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, stated this in Abuja while presenting the Commission’s 2026 budget proposals and projected cost for the 2027 general elections before the Senate and the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Electoral Matters.
Amupitan explained that the proposed N873.778 billion election budget is separate from INEC’s 2026 appropriation proposals, which estimated the Commission’s operational expenditure at N171 billion.
He also clarified that the 2026 allocation is expected to cover routine activities, including the conduct of by-elections and off-cycle governorship elections.
The INEC boss pointed out that the projected election cost excludes a fresh request by the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) seeking an upward review of allowances for corps members deployed as ad-hoc election staff.
Amupitan while giving a breakdown of the projected election budget, said that the estimate is structured across five major components, including N379.748 billion for operational expenses, N92.317 billion for administrative costs, N209.206 billion for technological requirements, N154.905 billion for election capital projects and N42.608 billion for miscellaneous expenses.
He also explained that the budget proposal was prepared in compliance with Section 3(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, which mandates the Commission to prepare its election budget at least one year before the general election.
On the 2026 fiscal projections, he revealed that the Ministry of Finance had issued the Commission a budget envelope of N140 billion, while INEC proposed a total expenditure of N171 billion, comprising N109 billion for personnel costs, N18.7 billion for overheads, N42.63 billion for election-related activities, and N1.4 billion for capital expenditure.
The INEC Chairman expressed concerns over the envelope budgeting system, describing it as unsuitable for the Commission’s operations due to the urgent and unpredictable nature of electoral activities.
Moreover, Amupitan identified the absence of a dedicated communications network as a major operational challenge facing the Commission.
In his view during the budget defence session, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North) argued that external agencies should not impose budgeting frameworks on INEC, considering the sensitive nature of its mandate and urged Parliament to align funding with the Commission’s actual requirements.
Also speaking, a member of the House of Representatives, Billy Osawaru, requested that INEC’s budget be placed on first line charge as stipulated in the Constitution.
Meanwhile, the Joint Committee approved a motion recommending a one time release of the Commission’s annual budget and said it would consider NYSC’s request for about N32 billion to increase allowances for corps members to N125,000 during election duties.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Simon Lalong, assured legislative support for the Commission, while Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Rep. Bayo Balogun, cautioned INEC against making promises it might not fulfil.
Balogun recalled the controversy surrounding assurances on real-time transmission of election results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal during the last general election.
