RismadarVoice Reporters
September 28, 2026
The Independent National Electoral Commission is facing an outstanding funding gap of about ₦371 billion as preparations intensify for Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
INEC proposed about ₦873.78 billion for the conduct of the elections, with more than ₦500 billion reportedly released to the commission in June.
The outstanding funding is expected to support several critical components of the electoral process, including procurement, logistics, technology, production and distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, payments to contractors, personnel training and other operational requirements.
The presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while the governorship and state House of Assembly elections are expected to hold on February 6.
INEC National Commissioner Mohammed Haruna had confirmed the release of more than ₦500 billion but said the commission continued to face outstanding financial obligations, including liabilities arising from previous electoral activities.
The commission is also preparing to procure additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices as part of efforts to strengthen its technological capacity for the elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, has repeatedly stressed the importance of adequate and timely funding, particularly given the scale of deploying election personnel and materials across local government areas, wards and polling units nationwide.
According to the chairman, insufficient resources could limit what the commission is able to implement despite its constitutional responsibilities.
Despite the funding concerns, INEC says preparations for the elections are progressing.
The commission said the Continuous Voter Registration exercise and display of the preliminary voters’ register had been completed, while work was continuing on the synchronisation of voter data.
Preparations for PVC collection have also commenced, alongside the procurement and distribution of non-sensitive election materials.
INEC is additionally preparing for the training of election personnel, voter education programmes and improvements to the BVAS and INEC Result Viewing Portal systems.
Civil society and governance stakeholders have called for greater transparency surrounding both the release and utilisation of funds earmarked for the elections.
They have urged the commission to provide clearer information on funds already committed, outstanding financial obligations and aspects of election preparations that depend on additional releases.
The funding concerns do not, by themselves, establish financial mismanagement by INEC. The central issue is whether the outstanding resources will be released early enough for the commission to complete procurement, training, logistics and other preparations without avoidable delays.
Amupitan has also linked adequate election funding to security and logistics, warning that insufficient resources could affect the movement of electoral personnel and materials to some locations.
The INEC chairman has urged the police and other security agencies to maintain neutrality, strengthen intelligence gathering and adopt proactive measures ahead of the elections.
With the presidential and National Assembly elections approaching, attention is expected to remain on the release of the outstanding funds and INEC’s ability to complete its preparations within the available timeframe.
