“We Need N305billion To Conduct 2023 General Elections” — INEC Chairman
Vondigest reports that Prof Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Body (INEC), estimates that the commission will need N305 billion to hold the general elections in 2023.
Prof Yakubu made the announcement during a meeting with the Senate Committee on Appropriations on Monday in the National Assembly.
He said the sum would also allow the commission to prepare for the poll and purchase the necessary election materials, as well as cover several bye-elections across the country, according to the INEC chairman.
However, he claimed that the commission had already collected N100 billion of the N200 billion required for the polls.
Senator Jibrin Barau, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, announced that the budget for 2022 would be laid, debated, and enacted on Tuesday, December 21.
There’s also no information on whether President Buhari has drafted and sent a letter to the National Assembly explaining his decision to give or withhold his assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
This online platform understands that the constitution’s 30-day deadline for the President to respond to the bill expired on Sunday, December 19.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly will be closed for the Christmas and New Year vacations beginning Tuesday, December 21.
