INEC’s Mahmood Yakubu Demands N126bn in 2025 Budget
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has asked the National Assembly to increase its budget allocation for 2025 to N126 billion.
Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Mahmoud Yakubu, spoke on Friday before the Joint Committee on INEC of the Senate and the House of Representatives to defend the Commission’s 2025 budget.
Chairman Yakubu said that the N40 billion proposed by the federal government for INEC’s 2025 budget is not sufficient to fund INEC’s operations for that year.
‘Our proposed budget for 2025 requires more than N126 billion. ‘We have a document that details line by line how we intend to spend N126 billion. We want the support of the National Assembly to fulfill our responsibilities on the front lines.
‘In a nutshell, the N40 billion budget line given to us in 2025 will not cover one-third of our planned spending of over N126 billion.
“Barring the off-cycle elections in the 21 constituencies to be filled by supplementary elections and this year’s governorship election in Anambra State, the personnel cost associated with the new minimum wage alone will exhaust the N40 billion budget line.
“According to the INEC chairman, the electoral umpires have been ‘anemic’ in their budget allocation to the commission, with the Edo and Ondo It requested N10.5 billion for off-cycle elections and N500 million for intervention funds for the 2024 primaries.
Committee members pledged to increase the committee’s budget to meet the needs of the electoral body, while Senator Ireti Kingibe, representing the FCT, said INEC’s request was necessary for optimal operations, but expressed concern over the funding source. After the senators’ contributions, the committee went into executive session with the INEC chair and national committee members.
