Nigeria’s election umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, has stunned the nation by asking the National Assembly to sign off a jaw-dropping N873.78bn for the 2027 general elections, pushing total poll spending dangerously close to the N1tn line.
The request, presented by INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan to the National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters, instantly raised eyebrows as Nigerians grapple with economic hardship while election costs soar to record levels.
In a move that many will see as excessive, Amupitan revealed that the N873.78bn is strictly for the 2027 general elections alone and does not include the N171bn the commission is proposing for its 2026 operations. This means the 2027 election budget is almost three times the N313.4bn reportedly spent on the 2023 polls, fuelling questions about what exactly Nigerians are paying for.
Breaking down the controversial figure, INEC is asking for N379.75bn for operations, N92.32bn for administrative expenses, N209.21bn for technology, N154.91bn for election-related capital projects and N42.61bn for miscellaneous items. The so-called technology component is expected to cover upgrades to voter accreditation devices and result transmission systems, despite the public’s lingering distrust after the 2023 electronic upload debacle.
Amupitan tried to justify the massive request by pointing to Section 3(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, which mandates INEC to prepare its election budget at least one year before a general election. Yet, even with this legal cover, he admitted that the N873.78bn does not include a fresh demand from the National Youth Service Corps, which is pushing for higher allowances for corps members used as ad hoc staff, suggesting the final bill could climb even higher.
For 2026 alone, the Ministry of Finance has capped INEC’s budget at N140bn, but the commission is already pushing back, proposing N171bn instead. That figure includes N109bn for personnel, N18.7bn for overheads, N42.63bn for election-related activities and N1.4bn for capital expenditure, further reinforcing the perception of a commission determined to expand its financial footprint.
Lawmakers did not hide their discomfort. Senator Adams Oshiomhole openly challenged the envelope budgeting system imposed on INEC, insisting that external agencies should not be dictating the funding framework of such a sensitive institution. He called for the envelope model to be scrapped, signalling a brewing clash over who really controls the purse strings of Nigeria’s elections.
Members of the joint committee went even further, backing calls for INEC’s budget to be placed on first-line charge and released in a single tranche. On the surface, they framed this as a way to ensure early and effective planning, but it also means INEC could gain unprecedented access to huge sums with minimal staggered oversight.
At the same time, lawmakers appeared ready to entertain the NYSC’s push for higher election allowances, another layer of cost that will likely swell the final price tag of the 2027 polls.
Despite their pledges of support, legislators issued a pointed warning to INEC: stop making technical promises you cannot keep. They reminded the commission of the public anger that followed the failure of electronic result uploads in 2023, a failure that now hangs over INEC’s latest billion-naira technology demands.
With INEC’s budget request racing toward the N1tn mark, the big question remains: are Nigerians paying for credible elections, or just funding an ever-expanding electoral bureaucracy?
