Finally, NASS Settles For N143bn Election Budget

The dust over the budget of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2019 elections seems to have eased a little as the Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committees on Electoral Matters, Monday, adopted N143bn as the workable budget for the 2019 polls.

The INEC budget has generated a lot of controversy over the recess of the National Assembly and the fact that there were two versions, one from the executive and the other from the electoral commission, of the budgets.

The INEC had presented N189.2bn, while the Presidency had N143bn.

On Monday, the joint committee of both chambers settled for the Presidency’s noting that some of the line items were already captured in the 2018 budget.

Earlier, the Chairman, House Committee on Legislative Budget and Research, Mr. Timothy Golu, had given indication on the issue of duplications.