INEC wey be Independent National Electoral Commission for Nigeria don tell National Assembly say dem need N873.78bn to run 2027 general election. Dem also dey ask for N171bn to carry out dia work for 2026.

INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, announce dis one for Abuja while dem dey present 2026 budget and 2027 election cost before National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters.

According to am, di N873.78bn na to cover di whole 2027 national election. Di extra N171bn na to run INEC normal work for 2026, including bye-election and off-season election.

Di Senior Advocate of Nigeria tok say di election budget no include new request from NYSC wey dey ask for increase allowance for corps members wey go work as ad-hoc staff for election.

E explain say even though dem no show all di details well well, di almost N1tn budget split into five main parts.

“N379.75bn go cover operational cost, N92.32bn go cover administrative cost, N209.21bn go cover technology cost, N154.91bn go cover election capital cost, and N42.61bn go cover miscellaneous expenses,” Amupitan tok.

Di INEC chairman tok say dem prepare di budget “according to Section 3(3) of Electoral Act 2022, wey tell di Commission make e prepare election budget at least one year before general election.”

For 2026 budget, Amupitan tok say Ministry of Finance give dem envelope of N140bn, but “INEC dey propose total expenditure of N171bn.”

Di breakdown na N109bn for personnel, N18.7bn for overhead, N42.63bn for election matters, and N1.4bn for capital project.