Today, the Nigerian Senate passed the sum of N234 billion for
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the 2018 budget.
The figure comprises the N189 billion requested by INEC for
the conduct the 2019 general election, and N45 billion provided for the
commission under statutory transfer. The lawmakers approved that the N189
billion be vired from both recurrent and capital components of the Special
Intervention Programme captured in the Service Wide Vote of the 2018
Appropriation Act.
The passage of the budget followed the presentation of the
report of the Committee on Appropriation chaired by Sen. Danjuma Goje who said
that the committee considered President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for N242
billion for INEC and security agencies to conduct the election.
He said the executive allocated N143 billion for INEC from
virement in the 2018 budget without specifying the source of the virement. The
committee, according to him, recommended that the money be vied from the
Special Intervention Programme under the Service Wide Vote of the 2018
Appropriation Act. Goje said in making the recommendation, the committee took
into account report of the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee
on INEC which met with the commission during the just-ended National Assembly
recess.
He said the final report that would cover the security
agencies’ components of the N242 billion election’s budget would be presented
in the next legislative day. Commenting on the report, the Deputy President of
the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, observed that Buhari’s letter to the Senate on
election funding came holistically, comprising the requests of INEC and the
security agencies.
“The issue of INEC has been settled, and we are told that the
Committee on Appropriation will be meeting with the security agencies this
afternoon.
This being an interim report, I would like to suggest this
report and the report on the request of the security agencies be consolidated
into one report, more so when it came as a single report from the president.
This is important so that we have a single report next week
and be able to pass it as a single request, because if we separate it now it
will cause confusion.’’
However, other senators, including Kabiru Gaya, Ahmed Lawan
and Ibrahim Gobir, countered Ekweremadu and called for immediate passage of the
INEC budget due to its urgency. The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki,
thereafter put the committee’s recommendations to a voice vote and it was
approved by the lawmakers
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