With less than three weeks to the statutory deadline for the release of election funds, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is yet to receive the budgetary allocation required to commence full preparations for the 2027 general elections, raising concerns about the commission’s readiness.
The funding challenge comes as INEC announced plans to conduct mock presidential election exercises to test its technology infrastructure ahead of the polls, assuring Nigerians that the technical glitches that affected the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal during the 2023 presidential election will not recur.
The commission is seeking about ₦873 billion to conduct the 2027 elections, with the budget covering election operations, technology, logistics, administrative expenses, and capital projects.
Political attention is also expected to shift to INEC on Thursday when the commission issues official access codes to political parties, enabling them to upload the names of their nominated candidates to its portal.
The move is expected to resolve uncertainty surrounding the submission of candidates for elective offices, particularly in parties facing internal leadership disputes, as only factions recognised by INEC will receive the access codes.
Earlier, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, challenged the Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), insisting that INEC’s decision on which faction receives the access code would determine the party’s authentic leadership.
Speaking during a closed-door session with journalists in Abuja organised by the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA) in partnership with Legis360, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna, warned that delayed funding could disrupt critical election preparations.
He noted that while the Electoral Act requires election funds to be released at least six months before polling, the commission has yet to receive the allocation despite the approaching deadline.
With the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 2027, the legal deadline for releasing election funds falls on July 16, 2026.
Haruna explained that INEC is already under pressure to replace critical election equipment, particularly the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices that were damaged, lost, or not recovered after previous elections.
“Our Director of ICT just came back from China regarding procurement because not all the BVAS devices used during the last general election were recovered. Orders need to be placed and these things take time,” he said.
He added that ballot boxes, voting cubicles, ballot papers, and electronic devices require lengthy production and delivery periods, making timely funding essential.
Haruna defended the proposed ₦873 billion budget, arguing that the cost is reasonable when viewed against the scale of Nigeria’s elections.
“This N800 billion-plus sounds humongous, but when you calculate the average cost per voter, it is about six dollars per voter, which is reasonable for a country like Nigeria. People forget that virtually everything we use is imported. The BVAS devices are imported. A lot of election materials are imported. Exchange rate fluctuations also affect costs,” he said.
Addressing concerns over the 2023 presidential election, Haruna said INEC has learned valuable lessons from the IReV portal challenges and is considering nationwide mock presidential election simulations to test its systems under conditions similar to those expected during the 2027 polls.
He also expressed concern over what he described as increasing judicial interference in election administration through conflicting court orders and last-minute judgments, which often force the commission to alter logistics and ballot configurations shortly before elections.
According to him, INEC plans to engage the judiciary, beginning with the Supreme Court, to minimise such disruptions and improve certainty in election planning.
Reacting to the funding concerns, Executive Director of PAACA, Ezenwa Nwagwu, warned that delayed release of election funds could undermine electoral integrity by encouraging rushed procurement processes and emergency decisions that may compromise established procedures.
