Headline

How Nigeria Spent N207 Billion On 68 million Nigerians Who Didn’t Vote

Published

2 years ago

April 16, 2023

N207 billion may have been expended on 68 million Nigerians who registered to vote in the 2023 elections but for one reason or another ended up not being able to perform that civic responsibility.

The inability to vote has been blamed on alleged shoddiness on the part of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) whose officials arrived late for polls commencement and could not attend to most of the potential voters who had stormed polling units across the nation before the election closed, relocation from Nigeria and death among others.

Meanwhile, a source at INEC has absolved the Commission’s Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, of blame on some of the issues that attended the polls, saying the electoral management body’s (EMB) boss did all he could to deliver Nigeria’s freest and fairest election but some “human factors” stopped him.

He listed the factors to include unanticipated glitches associated with the technology deployed and the activities of what he called partisan Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).

The INEC Chairman has come under harsh criticism for the way the polls were handled and declaration of Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the presidential election with the celebrated writer, Chimamanda Adichie, being the latest high profile Nigerian to say the EMB disappointed the people.

Indeed, the two main opposition presidential candidates (Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the People Democratic Party (PDP) and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP), among others, are at the tribunal to challenge the outcome of the poll.

Polling ought to have opened with accreditation at 8. 30 a.m. and voting immediately while the exercise should close at 2. 30p.m. but in many polling units across Nigeria, accreditation didn’t start until noon and in some cases the evening of February 25, the first day of election when Nigerians voted for their next President, senators and members of the House of Representatives.

Many people left polling units in frustration while those who were prepared to wait ultimately couldn’t vote because officials closed without attending to them.

Of the 93 registered voters across Nigeria for the 2023 polls, only 25 million voted in the February 25 elections, leaving 68 million unable to participate in the exercise.

And for the March 18 governorship and House of Assembly polls, the turnout was worse. Estimated 21 million people voted.

Voter turnout for the elections is the worst since the 2011 polls.

Whereas the number of registered voters in Nigeria’s elections declined from 73 million in the 2011 polls to 67 million in 2015, it moved up to 82 million in 2019 and 93 million in 2023.

Poor turnout figure

Meanwhile, turnout was 39 million in 2011, reduced to 29 million in 2015, remained at 29 million in 2019, before moving to 25 million (presidential and National Assembly polls) and 21 million (governorship and House of Assembly polls) in 2023.

Analysts said the poor turnout figure recorded in the 2023 polls could not be blamed on apathy given that Nigerians across the country, especially youths, expressed willingness to vote, a situation that apparently led to the upsurge in voters’ registration in the INEC continuous voters’ registration exercise which inevitably added 11 million voters to the register used for the 2019 elections.

Vanguard findings showed that INEC may have put the cost per voter for the 2023 elections at an estimate of $5.39, with a target of 100 million registered voters for the polls, using the N565 to $1 parallel market exchange rate as of April 2022 (10 months ago) when it released its Election Project Plan (EPP) document.

Projected budget as of that time was N305 billion.

But the election management body (EMB) ended up registering 93 million voters, seven million down from its estimated 100 million.

In essence, instead of spending N305 billion on 100 million voters, the budget ought to have come down to N298 billion for 93 billion registered voters (at N3, 207 per voter).

Further calculation shows that of the 93 million registered voters, only 25 million voted in the February 25 polls, meaning that N207 billion was earmarked for the remaining 68 million voters who could not exercise their civic responsibility while estimated 21 million voted on March 18.

Meanwhile funds were used to procure ballot papers among other items for the polls.

For instance, 93 million papers would have been printed for each of the three segments of the February 25 elections, that is, one each for the presidential, Senate and House of Representatives polls.

At the end of the day, only 25 million each voted. 68 million couldn’t.

For the March 18 polls, 21 million voted, but whereas a little lower than 93 million ballot papers would have been printed for the governorship segment of the exercise because it was holding in only 28 states, the entire 93 million would have been printed for the House of Assembly segment because the election was holding in the entire 36 states.

The actual cost of printing of the ballots could not be ascertained at press time.

Provision would have also been made for the printing of result sheets.

There were other expenses including personnel emoluments for the elections which would not have changed the amount spent by the country had more voters exercised their franchise in the 2023 polls.

But there were also expenses incurred on equipment like the newly introduced Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines and vehicles which use are not limited to the 2023 polls as they can still be used in subsequent polls and, therefore, according to analysts, the cost cannot be calculated per voter in this year’s elections.

EPP document

Recall that INEC had proposed in April 2022 the sum of N305 billion for the conduct of the 2023 general elections.

This was contained in the commission’s EPP document unfolded during the EMB meeting with the media ahead of the 2023 general elections.

According to the document, INEC would need N305 billion to conduct the polls.

The document gave a breakdown of what each department of the commission would require as its budget for the general elections.

According to the EPP document, INEC has 23 departments and directorates.

INEC said, “For established and stable democracies, the average cost per voter is pegged at $1 to $3. In transitional democracies, it ranges from $4 to $8, while the cost is fixed at $9 and above in post-conflict and some transitional democracies.”

Because of this, the commission said that elections tend to be more costly in nascent democratic countries.

Accordingly, INEC put the cost per voter for the 2023 election at an estimate of $5.39, with a target of 100 million registered voters for the election, using the N565 to $1 parallel market exchange rate, the commission quoted in its EPP document.

As a result, the actual figure is N304.54 billion, representing a 61.37 per cent increase over what was spent to conduct the 2019 general elections.

The EPP report said that INEC spent N189.2 billion to conduct the 2019 general elections, explaining that the cost per voter was fixed at $6.24 at an exchange rate of N305 with a total of 84 million registered voters.

In real terms, the cost per voter for the 2023 election reduced compared to 2019 ($5.39 against $6.24 in 2019), but the exchange rate has skyrocketed since the 2019 general elections.

In addition, the increase in the number of registered voters — one of the determinants for planning election budgets — and the creation of 56,873 new polling units, among others, may also account for the increase in the proposed budget for the 2023 elections.

An analysis of the 2023 proposed election budget showed that nine items accounted for 76.68 per cent of the total budget. Procurement of accreditation devices was earmarked to take the bulk — 34.51 per cent of the entire budget – while provision for run-off elections was 8.89 per cent of the budget. Honoraria for ad hoc staff, logistics, and printing of ballot papers covered 7.79 per cent, 7.54 per cent, and 6.78 per cent, respectively.

On funding the 2023 elections’ budget, INEC explained that the Federal Government would provide the required funds for the commission to cover the fixed and direct costs.

INEC further explained that although it was not reflected either in the fixed budget of the commission or in the core costs for the conduct of elections, it will also receive support from development partners for some of its electoral activities such as training, capacity building, civic and voter education, production of information, education and communication materials, and engagement with stakeholders. It said all these were geared towards strengthening the integrity of the electoral process, promoting citizens’ participation, and enhancing advocacy for inclusivity concerning women, youths, persons with disability and other marginalised groups.

“For the 2023 elections, INEC has projected 100 million registered voters, proposing N305 billion to conduct the election. With the country’s declining voter turnout rate, the possibility of a huge waste of funds is quite concerning. To prevent another situation of huge resources going to waste as a result of lower voter turnout, the electoral commission may need to adopt workable measures to ensure more participation at the 2023 polls”, the EPP had said

Voting materials

The document said that INEC will spend not less than N239.2bn on procuring voting materials and vehicles that will be used in the 2023 general elections.

It also said that N239.2bn, which constituted 78.44 per cent of its N305billion budget, would be spent on 10 critical items which included ballot papers, operational vehicles, ballot boxes, allowances of ad hoc workers, the printing of result sheets, logistics and procurement of accreditation devices.

Part of the proposal in the N239.2billion budget was the N27.1billion set aside by the commission for possible run-off elections, including the one for the presidential poll.

A breakdown of the document, 2023 EPP indicated that the highest single component will be the procurement of accreditation devices which will gulp N105.2billion. This also constituted 34.51 per cent of the total election budget of N305bn.

The allowance for ad hoc workers, who will be more than one million people, was pegged at N23.7billion while N23billion was set aside for election logistics expenses which included the movement, deployment and retrieval of men and materials for the elections.

INEC was also expected to spend N20.6billion on the printing of ballot papers and N12.7billion on the procurement of non-sensitive materials.

According to the VANGUARD, the commission set aside N9.5billion for the printing of result sheets, N7.8billion for the procurement of ballot boxes and a separate N5.39billion for the same purpose. The electoral body was also expected to spend N3.9billion on the procurement of operational vehicles.

The Yakubu story

Defending Yakubu on the flaws in the polls, the INEC source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the issue owing to the sensitive nature of the matter, cited the Chairman’s quest to use technology to drive credible polls which, according to him, motivated the use of BVAs and IREV.

“It was for the reason of ensuring credible polls that the INEC boss resorted to the use of technology which was a clear departure from the past when polls were blatantly rigged by politicians altering election results at will”, he said.

“And we saw all the attempts some politicians, even parties made to abort the use of technology for the polls. Some people even went to court about four times and there were also efforts to remove Yakubu on this premise but he stood his ground.”

The INEC source said the Chairman was vindicated as post-election investigation showed that BVAS performance at the polls was over 98% successful.

On the alleged shutdown of the presidential portal of IREV to sabotage the system and influence the outcome, the source said nothing could have been further from the truth.

According to him, it was in an effort to prevent hacking into the system that necessitated the shutdown for a while.

He noted that whereas the portals for other elections, including the governorship, senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly, had been tested to near perfection in off cycle polls (Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Anambra, Edo), INEC never had the opportunity before the 2023 polls with a view to testing its effectiveness.

“The server operator was based in the UK”, he said.

Narrating what happened that inevitably gave the impression that the presidential portal was deliberately shut down by saboteurs determined to manipulate the outcome of the result, the source said: “The server operator was baffled by the volume of data and other things entering the portal on February 25 and thinking that hackers could have been at work and in their panicking situation, they shut down the portal.

“The shutdown was the reason the portal couldn’t take the presidential election results uploaded into the IREV from polling units whereas the senatorial and House of Representatives portals were uploading.

“But there were a local back up in Abuja which was activated immediately but it also generated some issues which led to a situation whereby one state result went to another state as shown on the IREV.

“Meanwhile, the issues were corrected when the server operators in the UK restarted the presidential election portal”.

On whether the portal shutdown could have affected the integrity of the presidential election, the source said no.

“The portal has the capacity to store uploaded documents and alter send to IREV without any form of tampering”, he added.

According to him, those vilifying Yakubu should understand that were it not for the technology he introduced into the polls, it would have been difficult for those who now have access to BVAS which stored all the information they can now use to challenge the declaration of winners in the elections at the tribunal to do so.

Speaking on how the activities of some RECs impacted negatively on the outcome of the polls, the source said some of them were clearly partisan, saying it was unfair to now blame such activities of RECs on the EMB Chairman as they were outside of his control.

“For instance, about 19 RECs were appointed close to the polls and as it turned out many of them were clearly partisan and to make matters worse some were deployed to states where they had sympathy for the ruling parties”, he pointed out.

“Should we also blame INEC or the Chairman for this?”

The source noted that it is only INEC out of the agencies of government that participated in the election that has carried out disciplinary measures against erring staff to the extent of recommending to President Muhammadu Buhari the sacking of two RECs who had been found wanting in their conduct in the polls.
VANGUARD

Headline

Russian Strikes Kill Five In Ukraine, Cause Power Outages

Published

17 hours ago

October 5, 2025

Editor

Russian strikes Sunday on Ukraine killed five people and badly damaged energy infrastructure, temporarily severing power supplies to tens of thousands and prompting neighbouring Poland put ground defence on high alert.

Russia has stepped up strikes on energy networks, increasing fears Moscow would resume its widespread campaign of attacks on power facilities, which have plunged millions into darkness in past winters.

Russian forces fired 496 drones and 53 missiles at Ukraine, the majority of which were shot down, according to the Ukrainian air force.

“Sadly, five people were killed. My sincere condolences to everyone who lost loved ones to this terror,” Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Strikes killed four people near Lviv, which lies in western Ukraine and is hundreds of kilometers from the front line, and has been largely spared the attacks that have hit cities further east.

“Near Lviv, an entire family of four was killed in their home, including a teenage girl,” Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said.

Emergency services released photos showing firefighters battling flames in a destroyed building, and helping elderly residents to safety.
Attacks also killed one person in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia and wounded people near the eastern front, local authorities said.
“Russians once again targeted our infrastructure -– everything that ensures normal life for our people,” Zelensky said.

The strikes cut power to over 110,000 subscribers across several regions, Ukraine’s emergency services said, with the hardest hit being Zaporizhzhia.

– ‘Gas, heat and light’ –
Overnight, more than 73,000 people in Zaporizhzhia were left without electricity, regional head Ivan Fedorov said, though power had been partially restored by the afternoon.

Ukraine’s state-run gas company Naftogaz network also reported damage to its network.
“These maniacal terrorist strikes are aimed solely at one thing — depriving Ukrainians of gas, heat, and light,” Naftogaz CEO Sergii Koretskyi said in a statement.

The Russian army said it launched an attack “against enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine and gas and energy infrastructure facilities that ensured their operation.”

Russian attacks have also rattled Ukraine’s European allies after a spate of alleged Russian airspace violations into Europe.

NATO boosted its defences along its eastern borders throughout the month as it accused Moscow of testing the alliance’s air defences with drone incursions into several members and by flying military jets in Estonian airspace.

Overnight Poland’s armed forces said on X that they had mobilised planes and put ground defences on high alert to secure the country’s airspace, especially in areas close to Ukraine.

Ukraine also said Russia was intensifying a campaign of air strikes on its railway network in an attempt to isolate frontline communities ahead of winter.

Russia launched drones at two passenger trains in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region on Saturday, killing one person and wounding dozens, according to Ukrainian officials.

Headline

Badenoch Unveils Strict UK Immigration Plan, Targets 150,000 Yearly Deportations

Published

17 hours ago

October 5, 2025

Editor

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, has unveiled an aggressive immigration reform plan aimed at detaining and deporting 150,000 illegal migrants annually, in what she described as the “toughest reforms Britain has ever seen” in border policy. The announcement was made in a video message posted on her X account on Sunday.

The plan, dubbed the Radical Borders Plan, envisages the establishment of a new Removals Force modelled after the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which would replace the current Home Office Immigration Enforcement unit. According to Badenoch, the Removals Force will have a mandate to remove all illegal entrants, foreign criminals, and undocumented migrants, while also monitoring illegal work. She stated, “My message is clear: if you’re here illegally, you will be detained and deported.”

Badenoch sharply criticised previous administrations, accusing both Conservative and Labour governments of failing to manage the migration crisis effectively. “Successive governments have failed on immigration. Labour promised to smash the gangs. Instead, in just a year, they delivered record small boat crossings, over 50,000 illegal arrivals, 32,000 people in asylum hotels, billions wasted. It’s pure weakness. Britain needs a serious, credible plan and the backbone to deliver it,” she said.

The proposed plan includes several controversial measures. Asylum claims from illegal entrants would be banned, the Human Rights Act repealed, and the United Kingdom withdrawn from the European Convention on Human Rights. Badenoch added that all new illegal arrivals would be deported within a week, with legal obstacles to mass removals removed and visa sanctions imposed on countries that refuse to repatriate their citizens. She also pledged to “shut down the asylum hotel racket,” which she said would save taxpayers billions and restore public confidence in the UK’s border controls.

The Removals Force, if approved, will operate with an annual budget of £1.6 billion, double that of the current Immigration Enforcement unit, funded by savings from the closure of asylum hotels and other measures within the asylum system. The force will have sweeping powers, including the use of facial recognition technology without prior warning, and will integrate closely with the police. Priority for removals will include new illegal entrants, foreign criminals, failed asylum seekers, visa over-stayers, and others identified as residing in the UK illegally.

In an interview on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch faced criticism for her refusal to specify the destinations to which deported migrants would be sent. She responded, “I’m tired of all of these irrelevant questions about where they should go. They will go back to where they should be or another country, but they should not be here.” When pressed further, she added, “They will go back to where they came from.”

According to the Conservative Party document detailing the plan, the proposed measures are intended to increase removals from the current 34,000 per year to approximately 150,000, marking a five-fold increase in enforcement activity. The party argues that the reforms are necessary to address what it describes as uncontrolled migration and to strengthen public trust in the country’s border system.

Badenoch’s announcement has intensified the ongoing debate in the UK over immigration policy, balancing border security with human rights considerations. Critics have expressed concern over the repeal of the Human Rights Act and the use of facial recognition technology without oversight, while supporters have welcomed the proposed measures as a decisive step in tackling illegal immigration.

The Radical Borders Plan is expected to be submitted for parliamentary consideration in the coming months, with its implementation contingent on legislative approval and coordination with existing law enforcement structures.

Headline

Trump Threatens To Unleash ‘Hell’ On Hamas

Published

2 days ago

October 4, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump has given Hamas until 2200 GMT on Sunday to accept his 20-point plan for peace in Gaza, warning the Palestinian militant group faced “all hell” if it did not agree to the terms.

The US leader set the deadline — which would fall at 1:00 a.m. Monday in Gaza — after an official for the Islamist movement told AFP earlier on Friday that the group still needed time to study the proposal to end nearly two years of devastating war in the Palestinian territory.

“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

The proposal, backed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calls for a ceasefire, the release of hostages within 72 hours, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

That would be followed by a post-war transitional authority headed by Trump himself.

“Hamas is still continuing consultations regarding Trump’s plan… and has informed mediators that the consultations are ongoing and need some time,” the official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

On Tuesday, Trump gave Hamas “three or four days” to accept his plan, which has been welcomed by world powers, including Arab and Muslim nations.

Mohammad Nazzal, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said in a statement Friday that the “plan has points of concern, and we will announce our position on it soon.”

As Hamas mulled Trump’s peace plan this week, a Palestinian source close to the group’s leadership told AFP on Wednesday that the Islamist movement wanted to amend some clauses, including the one on disarmament.

Hamas leaders also want “international guarantees” for a full Israeli withdrawal and that no assassination attempts would be made inside or outside Gaza, the source added.

Another source familiar with the negotiations told AFP that the group was split over Trump’s plan.

Structurally, the group’s leadership is divided between officials based in the Gaza Strip and those abroad, particularly in Qatar.

Much of Hamas’s leadership has also been wiped out in Israeli attacks throughout the war.

The source told AFP that “the first (opinion) supports unconditional approval, as the priority is a ceasefire under Trump’s guarantees, with mediators ensuring Israel implements the plan”.

“The second has serious reservations regarding key clauses… They favour conditional approval with clarifications reflecting Hamas’s and the resistance factions’ demands,” the source added.

Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said “ultimately it’s not just about convincing Hamas leadership in Doha, but also the leadership in Gaza, as well as Hamas members and fighters in Gaza.”

“Additionally, Hamas must then be able to convince other factions in Gaza,” he added.

The war was triggered by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 66,288 Palestinians, according to health ministry figures in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

Their data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants, but indicates that more than half of the dead are women and children.