Udoma explains INEC Budget figures

Points regarding Budget Minister’s appearance at NASS on INEC’s Election Budget

·        Budget and National Planning Minister, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, today appeared before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to clarify issues regarding the Commission’s 2019 General Election Budget recently submitted for appropriation.

·        The Minister confirmed that indeed INEC submitted a proposal of N189, 207,544,893.13 for the conduct of the 2019 election, but the Executive decided to take part of the request (N143,512,529,455.00) in the 2018 Supplementary Budget and roll over the remaining N45,695,015,438.00 to the 2019 Budget, in the light of prevailing fiscal constraints.

·        The Executive was mindful of the size of the 2018 Budget, because implementing a budget of N9.12 trillion will be extremely challenging. Therefore it did not want an increase in the overall size of the 2018 budget so that it can properly fund important and critical expenditure items. It was more so, because the amount rolled over was not likely to be required by INEC until January 2019.

·        The amount proposed by the Executive was therefore to be taken from the funds appropriated in the 2018 Budget for new projects inserted by the National Assembly totaling N578,319,951,904. The reallocation does not affect the N100 billion specifically allocated for the legislators’ constituency projects in the 2018 Budget.

·        However, Committee members during the session suggested that to be on the safe side, it might be necessary for the National Assembly to approve the entire amount requested by INEC (N189, 207,544, 893.13) because there is no certainty that the 2019 Budget will be passed earlier than February 2019; in order not to affect election activities.

·        The Minister did not object to the suggestion by Committee members (of appropriating the entire amount requested by INEC), so long as it is taken from the N578,319,951,904 already in the 2018 Budget with the total 2018 Budget figure not exceeding the already approved N9.12 trillion.