From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin
The Speaker, House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal has said that paucity of funds might scuttle the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) efforts to conduct fraud free elections in 2015.
The INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, also said that the commission would require whopping sum of N102 billion to conduct a credible election in 2015.
Both Speaker and Jega spoke in Ilorin at a public lecture organised by the Mustapha Akanbi Foundation (MAF) on the “Challenges of fraud-free elections under a democratic dispensation”.
The Speaker, who was the Chairman of the occasion, said there was a N19 billion budget deficit for INEC in the 2014 appropriation bill before the National Assembly, presented by the budget office.
“Now the 2014 appropriation Bill is before the National Assembly and talking about a truly independent INEC, you need to fund the electoral body to be able to carry out its all-important assignment of conducting election.
He dismissed insinuations that the 2015 elections will determine the unity of the country saying that Nigeria had moved past such era.
In his remarks, the INEC Boss, who presented a paper on the lecture lamented that the N45 billion presented by the budget office was a fraction of what INEC need to conduct a credible election as it was not even sufficient to pay salaries and make necessary procurement.
