The Independent National Electoral Commission has renewed its call for the prompt release of about N371 billion still outstanding from its 2027 election funding, saying timely financing is essential to completing preparations for the January 16 presidential and National Assembly elections.
The commission’s position comes as its preparations enter a critical phase, with INEC having received more than N500 billion of its N873.78 billion proposed election budget by late June.
INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, has repeatedly stressed that conducting elections of Nigeria’s scale requires substantial financial backing and early planning.
The commission’s proposed N873.78 billion election budget, presented to the National Assembly in February, covers election operations, administration, technology, capital expenditure and miscellaneous costs.
The largest allocations include about N375.75 billion for election operations, N92.31 billion for administration, N209.21 billion for technology and N154.90 billion for capital expenditure.
The funding gap has become more significant as the January 16 presidential and National Assembly elections draw closer. Governorship and State House of Assembly elections are scheduled for February 6.
Several election preparations require financial commitments well ahead of polling day, including procurement of electoral materials, deployment of technology, logistics, voter-card production and distribution, contractor payments, staff training and nationwide operations.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, had confirmed that the commission received more than N500 billion in June but said the balance remained necessary for the full implementation of its plans.
The commission has continued its preparations despite the outstanding funds.
On Monday, Amupitan disclosed that INEC had acquired 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices as part of efforts to strengthen the technological infrastructure for the 2027 elections.
He said existing BVAS machines had also undergone software hardening, battery optimisation and biometric calibration to improve their reliability and prevent accreditation bypass.
INEC has also reported progress on the voter register. The commission said the national register had risen above 103 million following the completion of the latest Continuous Voter Registration exercise and biometric verification.
Nationwide collection of Permanent Voter Cards is expected to begin on October 9, with the commission urging registered voters to collect their cards ahead of the elections.
The electoral body is also introducing an enhanced electronic result-management system designed to digitise and authenticate polling-unit result sheets before their upload to the INEC Result Viewing Portal.
These preparations are taking place under a fixed electoral timetable. The commission has scheduled the presidential and National Assembly elections for January 16, 2027, while the governorship and State House of Assembly polls will follow on February 6.
Amupitan has previously linked adequate funding to effective logistics and security, noting that INEC must deploy personnel and materials across the country while coordinating with security agencies and other stakeholders.
The funding question has therefore shifted from whether INEC has received money for the 2027 polls to whether the outstanding allocation will arrive early enough to meet the commission’s procurement and operational deadlines.
For INEC, the next stage is to translate the work already undertaken into full operational readiness. The release of the remaining funds is expected to be an important part of that process as the January polls draw closer.
