The Senate has approved the N234 billion budget for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct the 2019 elections.
President Muhammadu Buhari had requested the National Assembly to approve the budget in a letter dated September 19.
The approval was finally given at its plenary session on Thursday.
Senator Goje Danjuma had presented the report of the Committee on Appropriations and Finance on the INEC 2019 Election Budget.
While presenting the report, Danjuma commended the Senate leadership for its efforts. Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, also praised the committee for its efforts, stating that “the issue was only referred to the committee yesterday. I commend Senator Danjuma Goje, Senator Suleiman Nazif and their respective committees for their hard work”.
Senate President Bukola Saraki also spoke on the need to approve the budget.
The amount was eventually approved by the Senate.
The Breakdown is as follows:
Office of the National Security Adviser
2018 supplementary – N3, 855, 500, 000
2019 budget – 426, 000, 000
Total – 4, 281, 500,000
INEC
2018 supplementary – N143, 512, 529, 445
2019 budget – N45, 695, 015,438
Total: N189, 207, 544, 893
NSCDC
2018 supplementary – N1, 845, 597, 000
2019 budget – N1, 727, 997, 500
Total – N3, 573, 534, 500
Nigeria Police
2018 supplementary – N11, 457, 417, 432
2019 budget – N19, 083, 900, 000
Total – N30, 541, 317, 432
NIS
2018 supplementary – N530, 110, 078
2019 budget – N2, 098,033, 142
Total – N2, 628, 143, 320
DSS
2018 supplementary – N2, 903, 638, 000
2019 budget – N9,309,644,455
Total – N12, 213, 282, 455
Nigeria’s general elections are billed to hold in February and March 2019.
