ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has yet to receive the budgetary allocation approved for the conduct of the 2027 general elections but insists preparations for the nationwide exercise are already underway to ensure a smooth and credible poll.
The commission disclosed that procurement processes for critical election materials, including new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, have commenced, while plans are also in place to conduct mock presidential election exercises to test its technology ahead of the polls.
INEC National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education and Publicity, Malam Mohammed Haruna, made the disclosure on Thursday in Abuja during a cross-sectoral interactive session organised by the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA) in partnership with Legis360.
The fireside chat brought together representatives of political parties, civil society organisations (CSOs) and INEC officials to review the recently concluded Ekiti State governorship election and assess the commission’s preparations for the 2027 general elections.
Haruna said although the commission had not received the election funds, preparations remained on course.
INEC had proposed N873.78 billion for the 2027 general elections, with a significant portion earmarked for election operations, technology deployment and capital expenditure.
According to him, the delay remains within the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026, which stipulates that funds meant for the conduct of a general election should be released not later than six months before the election.
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He revealed that procurement activities had already begun, particularly for replacement BVAS machines and other election equipment damaged, lost or yet to be recovered from previous elections.
“Our director of ICT just returned from China regarding procurement because not all the BVAS devices used during the last general elections were recovered. Orders need to be placed, and these things take time,” Haruna said.
He further disclosed that INEC intends to organise mock presidential election exercises before 2027 as part of efforts to thoroughly test its technology infrastructure and prevent a recurrence of the technical glitches that affected the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal during the 2023 presidential election.
Responding to concerns over the rising cost of conducting elections, Haruna argued that Nigeria’s election expenses compared favourably with those of many other countries when measured on a per-voter basis.
“This N800 billion plus sounds humongous, but when you calculate the average cost per voter, it is about six dollars, which is reasonable for a country such as Nigeria.
“People forget that virtually everything we use is imported. The BVAS devices and a lot of other election materials are imported. Exchange rate fluctuations also affect these costs,” he explained.
The national commissioner also identified conflicting court orders as one of the major operational challenges confronting the electoral body.
He recalled that last-minute court injunctions issued barely 24 to 48 hours before the Ekiti governorship election compelled INEC to hurriedly adjust both its election software and printed materials.
“When a court gives a last-minute injunction to include parties like the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC), we are forced to reconfigure the software and update physical materials instantly.
“This leaves very little room to test the systems extensively, though we still manage to achieve substantial compliance with the rules,” Haruna said.
He noted that the commission had begun engaging relevant judicial authorities to minimise such disruptions, adding that similar consultations were undertaken by the immediate past INEC leadership under Prof. Mahmood Yakubu ahead of the 2023 general elections.
On concerns surrounding a recent viral report alleging a data breach within the commission, Haruna assured Nigerians that INEC maintains strict internal accountability and data protection procedures.
He disclosed that an electoral officer found to have deliberately leaked sensitive information as part of a personal vendetta against a political actor had been suspended.
According to him, the incident has been reported to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), while the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) are conducting criminal investigations.
Reviewing the Ekiti governorship election, Haruna described the commission’s logistics and deployment of technology as largely successful.
He said BVAS recorded a 98 per cent successful voter accreditation rate, adding that although a few elderly voters experienced biometric verification difficulties due to age-related physical changes, INEC’s technical support teams resolved the issues promptly.
Despite the successes, he expressed concern over the persistence of vote buying, lamenting that some voters openly queued to receive financial inducements from politicians before casting their ballots.
Speaking with journalists after the event, Executive Director of PAACA, Mr Ezenwa Nwagwu, urged the Federal Government and other critical stakeholders to release election funds to INEC well ahead of schedule.
He warned that delayed funding encourages emergency procurement processes that often undermine transparency and accountability.
“Whenever you create an emergency situation, corruption is very close behind.
“When things are not done when they should be done, people resort to bypassing rules. That is a situation politicians like to exploit to diminish the credibility of the process,” Nwagwu said.
He explained that timely release of funds was particularly important because INEC depended heavily on international procurement timelines, noting that the commission urgently needed to replace essential equipment, including BVAS devices damaged during flooding in Edo State in previous election cycles.
Nwagwu also urged civil society organisations and Nigerians to hold political actors accountable for creating avoidable bottlenecks instead of blaming only INEC whenever election logistics encounter challenges.
“Everybody should be interested in creating an enabling environment for INEC to discharge its responsibility effectively.
“Once you short-circuit that ability by arm-twisting them in terms of resources, we hold INEC to the fire whenever there is a shortfall, but we don’t go near the politicians who stage-managed the challenges,” he said.
Addressing the recurring issue of conflicting court judgments, Nwagwu argued that responsibility extends beyond the judiciary.
He maintained that many of the legal disputes could be avoided if citizens refrained from filing unnecessary cases.
“We can emulate the American system that resolves certain things administratively without going to court. But here, everything goes to court, even up to the Supreme Court,” he said.
According to Nwagwu, the engagement was organised to assess the strengths and shortcomings of the Ekiti governorship election and generate recommendations that would strengthen preparations for the 2027 general elections.