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Inflation, direct primary may push 2023 polls budget above N350bn
The budget for the 2023 general elections may exceed N350bn as against the N242bn budgeted for the 2019 elections.
This is due to inflation, currency devaluation, insecurity, cost of monitoring the direct primary made mandatory in the Electoral Act amendment Bill 2021 and procurement of new technology, like the newly introduced Bimodal Voter Accreditation System used for the Anambra State governorship election.
While the Independent National Electoral Commission earmarked N189.2bn for the 2019 elections, the Nigeria Police Force got N30.5bn; the Office of the National Security Adviser, N4.2bn; the Department of State Services, N12.2bn; the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps got N3.5bn and the Nigeria Immigration Service received N2.6bn. This brought the total budget to N242.2bn.
According to INEC’s 2019 Election Project Plan obtained by our correspondent, the commission budgeted about $7.7 per Nigerian in the last election which had over 80 million registered voters and the exchange rate was N305/$1.
Explaining the reason for the large 2019 budget, the document read in part, “This increase is due to a number of factors including the introduction of new innovations and activities to enhance the credibility of elections, increased number of registered voters, increased number of political parties, replacement of damaged and/or destroyed and unserviceable electoral materials as well as cost for the Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections.
“The increase in the 2019 election cost is also attributable to the depreciating exchange rate of the naira and rising inflation. On a projected population of 80 million registered voters, the estimated average cost per voter is $7.7 for the 2019 general elections (N189,207,544,893.13/305 = $620,352,606.20/80,000,000).”
According to INEC’s latest projection, the number of registered voters is expected to hit 100 million by the next general elections. Also, the naira has since been devalued to about N410/$1, a difference of N105 from the amount it exchanged for in 2019. Our correspondent learnt that this could increase INEC’s budget to $777m or N315.7bn.
Apart from the exchange rate, the current inflation rate is also higher than in 2019. While it was 11.4 per cent in 2019, the current inflation rate is about 16 per cent.
In addition, INEC is expected to procure tens of thousands of BVAS machines for the 2023 general elections as it said in February 2019 that it reconfigured about 180,000 card readers for the presidential and National Assembly elections across the country.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, pointed out in the run-up to the Anambra State governorship election that BVAS would more or less replace the card readers in future elections.
He explained that BVAS was a three-in-one process that allowed the use of one machine for the purposes of voter registration, accreditation (fingerprint and facial authentication) and uploading of polling unit results to the Result-Viewing Portal, known as IReV.
The procurement of this technology is of great importance to the commission because it would likely adopt electronic transmission of results, both for transparency and collation, in 2023 if the amendment passed by the National Assembly is assented to by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
It was also observed that while the number of political parties in 2019 was 91, it has since been pruned to 18. This could save INEC some cost. However, a new provision in the Electoral Amendment Bill that makes it mandatory for all political parties to choose their candidates through direct primaries would add to the election cost.
INEC spokesperson, Mr Festus Okoye, said recently that the commission would need about 17,618 officials to supervise the primaries of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party in the 8,809 wards across the country if political parties are restricted to direct primary for the 2023 general elections. The APC and PDP are the two biggest parties at the moment.
Okoye noted, “Speaking authoritatively, it is going to be a serious matter. This is because if, for instance, a political party wants to conduct a direct primary and wants to do primary only at the registration area level or what we call wards, the implication is that in a presidential election, they are going to be doing direct primary in 8,809 registration areas.
“The implication is that INEC has to deploy monitors to all those locations and we may not just deploy one monitor; we may deploy two, so you have to multiply that by two.
“Now, if the political party decides to do presidential primary separately, governorship primary separately and national and state assemblies primary separately, the implication is that we will go back to these 8,809 registration areas three times.”
The commission, according to its 2019 project plan, hired about 2.7 million ad hoc officials for the election. This figure may be higher since INEC has created additional 56,872 polling units.
Apart from INEC’s component in the election, insecurity may also increase the budgets of the police, NSCDC, NSA, DSS and the military for elections.
Banditry and kidnapping have been on the increase since 2019, forcing some states in the North-West to shut down telecommunications base stations and impose a curfew.
The INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, while defending the commission’s budget before the joint Senate and House of Representatives Committees on INEC and Electoral Matters in Abuja a week ago, hinted that the 2023 budget would be higher than that of 2019.
He averred that the N100bn approved for the commission to conduct the 2023 general elections would be grossly inadequate.
He said, “The N100bn is the first tranche for the 2023 general elections while N40bn is our normal budget for 2022. The sum of N189bn was appropriated for the 2019 general elections. So, it cannot be N100bn only for 2023.
“We are already in touch with the Federal Ministry of Finance on the additional requirements for the 2023 general elections. It is either we come to the National Assembly to defend the budget before the committee or we would do what we did in 2019 when the executive just submitted the proposal to the National Assembly and we came to defend it.
“We would need more money because we have expanded our polling units and we are introducing new technology for elections among many other new innovations. The number of registered voters will increase beyond the 84 million for the 2019 general elections.”
He added, “Some of the things we would need would be required for four months, some five months while some would require seven months (ahead of the time of usage.)
“We will start early preparations by procuring sensitive materials for the election. We hired 34,000 vehicles for the 2019 elections so we have plans to also outsource the material distribution in 2023 because we cannot afford the cost of buying such a huge number of vehicles and engage the drivers that would drive them.”
Attempts to get a response from INEC’s spokesperson on Friday proved abortive as he did not respond to repeated calls to his mobile line.
However, a former INEC Spokesperson, Mr Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, told our correspondent that indeed the cost of the 2023 elections would be higher. He, however, said he could not say for sure by what percentage it would rise. Osaze-Uzzi noted that since the amended electoral bill provided room for the electronic transmission of results, INEC would also need to procure more devices.
Responding to a question, he said, “In monetary terms, with the inflation rate and the exchange rate, it means the cost will be higher but in real terms, I don’t know. Don’t forget that INEC will also procure equipment for the transmission of results.
“Old equipment will also be replaced. Don’t forget that a lot of equipment was damaged. Yes, Nigeria now has 18 political parties as opposed to 91 in 2019 but don’t forget that it is an ongoing process. Any group that meets the requirements will be registered as a political party but it may not be up to 91.
“But this direct primary issue will bring up the cost of elections astronomically.”
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According to a statement issued on Saturday by the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Colonel Appolonia Anele, the reshuffle is part of efforts to strengthen national security and improve operational effectiveness across the country.
The statement added that the postings affected field commanders, school commandants and principal staff officers at the Army Headquarters.
It noted that the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, approved the strategic redeployment of senior officers, saying the move was aimed at enhancing the Army’s capacity to address emerging security challenges.
Under the new appointments, Major General WM Dangana has been named the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 3 Division Nigerian Army and Commander of Joint Task Force Operation ENDURING PEACE, replacing Major General EF Oyinlola.
Similarly, Major General EI Okoro has been appointed GOC 6 Division Nigerian Army and Land Component Commander of Joint Task Force South-South Operation DELTA SAFE, succeeding Major General EE Emeka.
The statement also announced the appointment of Major General JR Lar as Commander, Army Headquarters Garrison, while Brigadier General OM Oyekola will serve as Acting Military Secretary (Army). Brigadier General I Waziri retains his position as Chief of Staff in the Office of the Chief of Army Staff.
As part of efforts to strengthen operational leadership and combat readiness, Brigadier General IB Buhari was appointed Commander of Headquarters 63 Brigade, while Brigadier General K Rabiu was named Commander of Headquarters 31 Artillery Brigade.
In a move reflecting the Army’s growing emphasis on technology and emerging security threats, Major General SA Emmanuel was appointed Commander of the Nigerian Army Space Command.
Major General O Adegbe was also appointed Director of Intelligence and Security at Defence Headquarters.
In the area of military education and institutional development, Major General KE Chigbu was appointed Deputy Commandant of the National Defence College, while Major General SD Makolo became Commandant of the Nigerian Army Armour School.
Other appointments include Major General SO Adejimi as Commandant of the Nigerian Army School of Supply and Transport and Major General FS Etim as Chief of Training at the Headquarters Training and Doctrine Command, Nigerian Army (TRADOC).
Brigadier General U Ahmad has also been appointed Commandant of Depot Nigerian Army, Zaria.
The reshuffle further saw Major General KO Ukandu appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Post Housing Development Limited, while Major General AI Allison was named Managing Director of Defence Properties Limited.
The statement added, “The COAS charged the newly appointed senior officers to justify the confidence reposed in them by demonstrating exemplary leadership, professionalism, innovation and unwavering commitment to the Nigerian Army’s constitutional mandate of defending Nigeria’s sovereignty, protecting its territorial integrity and supporting civil authority in maintaining peace and security across the nation.
“The Nigerian Army remains resolute in its transformation drive and commitment to building a highly professional, combat-ready and people-oriented force capable of effectively addressing contemporary and future security challenges in pursuit of Nigeria’s national security objectives.”
The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has come under criticism on social media after encouraging Nigerians to consider small-scale businesses such as selling akara, roasted corn and kuli-kuli, saying they require little capital to start.
Tinubu spoke while addressing State House Correspondents after the Renewed Hope Initiative’s second-quarter meeting with wives of state governors, held at the State House, Abuja, on Wednesday.
She stated this while highlighting the efforts of the Renewed Hope Initiative to support vulnerable Nigerians through grants and other interventions.
According to her, beneficiaries of the initiative were given grants, not loans, to enable them to start businesses.
“We’re trying to give hope, and to start Akara business doesn’t take a lot of money. To start roasting corn, or somebody even said kuli kuli doesn’t take much. We didn’t give them a loan; we gave it to them as a grant.
“So we’ve encouraged Nigerians as best as we could. What is within our hands, I have given, and I keep giving,” she said.
The First Lady said the initiative had also supported interventions in healthcare, agriculture, education and social investment.
She said she donated N2bn to tackle tuberculosis, N1bn for breast cancer interventions and N500m to address malnutrition.
“I remember giving for TB. When I heard there were so many TB cases, I gave N2 billion. To breast cancer, I gave a billion. For food malnutrition, I gave half a billion.
“So those are the things we’ve been doing and making sure we can make sure that whatever this government is trying to do, it will see the light of day,” she stated.
Tinubu added that the initiative had also provided scholarships, ICT training and support for agriculture and social investment programmes.
She urged Nigerians not to lose hope despite the country’s economic challenges.
“The narrative has really changed, has changed to challenge the average man, whereas the average man is supposed to have hope. So I like the idea that Mr President say this is the Renewed Hope Agenda.
“We have to renew our hope, and that’s how we renew our hope, you know, and that’s what I have to tell Nigerians,” she said.
The remarks, however, triggered swift backlash on social media, with many Nigerians accusing the First Lady of trivialising the economic hardship facing ordinary citizens.
A user on X, @ADCVanguard_, said the video showed “exactly how disconnected Nigeria’s ruling class has become from the reality of ordinary citizens.”
Another user, @ireteeh, contrasted the initiative with private-sector efforts, saying, “The First Lady is empowering people with akara, corn, and kuli-kuli, while an ordinary citizen with limited resources is equipping people to build thriving careers in cybersecurity.”
A user identified as Nefertiti (@firstladyship) said, “Nigerians are in big trouble. There is fire on the mountain but the people are tired of running.”
See also Fire guts Anambra timber market
However, some social media users, especially on X, defended the First Lady, insisting there was nothing wrong with encouraging Nigerians towards such businesses.
A user, @Akikanju1568901, said akara is “one of the most lucrative businesses in Nigeria,” with a low startup cost and high profit margin, adding that “akara sellers sent many kids… to universities, built houses, bought cars.”
Another user, @PemiOladapo, said, “There’s dignity in labour… these are our local snacks! People should start it and scale it!”
A user, @TossynBankz_, however, argued that the criticism was not about the businesses themselves but about timing.
“Nobody is mocking akara, roasted corn, or kuli-kuli. Those are honest businesses. The problem is that Nigerians are asking for a better economy, more jobs, and lower prices. Telling people to start selling akara in this situation just feels like the government doesn’t understand what people are going through,” the user wrote.
By Okey Maduforo, Awka
Scores of buildings obstructing natural waterways in Onitsha and Ogidi are facing demolition as the Anambra State Government steps up efforts to permanently tackle flooding and erosion in the affected communities.
The affected areas are located in Onitsha North, Onitsha South and Idemili North Local Government Areas, where authorities say illegal developments have worsened recurring flood disasters.
The state government also warned land grabbers and property speculators to desist from activities that contribute to environmental degradation and undermine approved urban development plans.
The warning came during a joint inspection of flood- and erosion-prone communities in Ogidi and Onitsha by the Commissioners for Works and Infrastructure, Physical Planning and Urban Development, and Environment.
The inspection team visited several vulnerable locations, including Ogidi Market, Building Materials Market, Opi Stream, the Marine Area and Trans-Nkisi Layout, to assess the extent of damage and identify areas requiring urgent intervention.
Speaking during the inspection, the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Arc. Okey Ezeobi, said Phases Two and Three of the Ogidi Flood Control Project had been completed, while the design for Phase One was ready. He assured residents that the government was committed to providing a lasting solution to the perennial flooding in the area.
Ezeobi blamed much of the erosion damage on land grabbing, unregulated developments and alterations to approved master plans. He urged property owners to preserve designated drainage corridors and support ongoing government remediation efforts.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Barr. Chijioke Ojukwu, disclosed that investigations revealed that some traders at the Building Materials Market in Ogidi had erected plazas and shops on designated drainage channels, obstructing the natural flow of stormwater and worsening flooding.
He warned that all structures encroaching on waterways would be removed to enable the government reclaim and restore critical drainage networks in line with Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s vision of building clean, orderly and sustainable communities.
Ojukwu also expressed concern over the growing threat of gully erosion in Trans-Nkisi GRA, Onitsha, describing environmental degradation as a major challenge requiring urgent intervention and strict compliance with planning regulations.
The Commissioner for Environment, Barr. Clem Aguiyi, identified illegal construction, indiscriminate waste disposal and the destruction of vegetation that naturally controls erosion as major factors worsening flooding and erosion across the state.
He called on residents to take collective responsibility by planting erosion-control trees, protecting drainage infrastructure and supporting government initiatives aimed at achieving sustainable environmental management.
The International Human Right Protection Service (IHRPS), Anambra State Chapter, has raised concern over the plight of Nigerians allegedly stranded in South Africa amid renewed xenophobic attacks, urging the Federal Government to urgently evacuate affected citizens and provide each returnee with a N5 million resettlement package.
The group claimed that since the first evacuation flight, no further arrangements have been made to bring more Nigerians home, leaving many stranded despite continued attacks and growing fears for their safety.
It also appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, to intensify efforts to protect Nigerian citizens in South Africa and facilitate their safe return.
The organisation, in a statement signed by its Anambra State Chairman, Hon. Dr. Amb. Prince Ekwunife, and Director of Special Duties, Mr. Ikenna-Daniel Okonkwo, said many Nigerians had lost their livelihoods, sold their properties, and were living in fear following recurring xenophobic attacks. It urged the Federal Government to provide a N5 million starter package for each returnee to help them rebuild their lives.
Recent criticisms of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) over the oil spill in Bille Kingdom have generated considerable public debate. While concerns about environmental degradation and the welfare of affected communities are valid and deserve attention, it is important that public discourse on the matter is guided by facts, a clear understanding of institutional responsibilities, and the realities of environmental remediation in the Niger Delta.
Bille Kingdom, like many communities in the Niger Delta, has faced the devastating consequences of oil spills over the years. These incidents have impacted livelihoods, fishing activities, farmlands, and the overall ecosystem upon which residents depend. Understandably, community members and stakeholders expect swift interventions from government agencies and development institutions.
However, attributing sole responsibility for responding to oil spills to the NDDC overlooks the specific mandates assigned to various agencies within Nigeria’s environmental and petroleum sectors.
The NDDC was established primarily as an interventionist agency tasked with facilitating sustainable development in the Niger Delta through infrastructure projects, social programmes, economic empowerment initiatives, and regional development planning. While environmental sustainability forms part of its developmental agenda, the direct containment, investigation, and cleanup of oil spills are responsibilities that largely fall under regulatory agencies and oil operators, in accordance with existing laws and environmental regulations.
This distinction is crucial. Oil spill response typically involves technical assessments, environmental impact studies, joint investigation visits, remediation procedures, and regulatory approvals. These processes are often coordinated by specialised environmental agencies in collaboration with oil companies operating in the affected areas. The NDDC’s involvement is generally complementary, focusing on long-term development interventions, community support programmes, and, where applicable, environmental restoration initiatives.
Furthermore, it is important to recognise that the NDDC has invested significant resources over the years in projects aimed at improving the quality of life in the Niger Delta communities. Across the region, the Commission has undertaken road construction, educational support programmes, healthcare initiatives, skills acquisition schemes, and various environmental projects designed to address the developmental deficits that have historically plagued oil-producing communities.
Critics are right to demand accountability and effective action whenever environmental disasters occur. Public institutions must remain responsive to citizens’ concerns, and affected communities deserve transparency in efforts to address ecological damage. Nevertheless, constructive criticism should be based on an accurate understanding of each institution’s statutory role.
Holding the NDDC responsible for functions outside its primary mandate risks diverting attention from those entities legally obligated to prevent, manage, and remediate oil spills.
Rather than assigning blame without a full appreciation of institutional responsibilities, stakeholders should encourage greater collaboration among oil companies, environmental regulators, state and federal authorities, community leaders, and development agencies, including the NDDC. Such collaboration offers the most practical pathway toward lasting environmental restoration and sustainable development in Bille Kingdom and the wider Niger Delta.
The people of Bille Kingdom deserve solutions, not confusion over mandates. As discussions continue, it is essential that all parties focus on facts, accountability, and coordinated action that delivers meaningful relief and long-term environmental recovery for affected communities.
Martins Ogolo
Public Affairs Analyst
martins.ogolo@yahoo.com
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