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

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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
READ ALSO: Armed Youths Invade INEC Office As APC, PDP Clash In Port Harcourt
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.
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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.
READ ALSO: 2023: INEC Gives Update On Supplementary Polls
“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
12 Feared Dead In Kenya Light Aircraft Crash

A small plane travelling from Kenya’s coast crashed on Tuesday, according to the country’s aviation authority, with the 12 people on board feared dead.
The small plane was en route to Kichwa Tembo — a private airstrip located in the Maasai Mara National Park — from the tourist hotspot of Diani when it came down at around 5:30am local time (0230 GMT).
“The aircraft had 12 persons on board,” a statement from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) said.
It gave no further details, but said that government agencies were already on site to establish the cause of the accident.
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The Guardian reports that plane crashes are fairly common in Kenya in the last 18 months. On March 5, 2024, a mid-air collision between a Safarilink Aviation commercial flight and a 99 Flying School training aircraft occurred over the Nairobi National Park, resulting in two fatalities.
The incident took place shortly after both aircraft had departed Wilson Airport. The collision involved Safarilink Aviation Flight 053, a De Havilland Canada Dash 8 carrying 39 passengers and five crew members, and a 99 Flying School Cessna 172M.
AMREF Aircraft Crash
In August, a light aircraft belonging to the AMREF Flying Doctors crashed into a residential area in Mwihoko, Ruiru, Kiambu County, killing six people and injuring at least two others.
The aircraft, a Cessna Citation XLS (registration 5Y-FDM), had taken off from Wilson Airport and was en route to Hargeisa, Somalia, when it went down under unclear circumstances.
READ ALSO:Fire On Board Forces Lagos-Atlanta-bound Aircraft Diversion To Ghana
AMREF Flying Doctors CEO Stephen Gitau issued a statement confirming the incident. Mr Gitau noted that the aircraft departed Wilson Airport at 2.17 PM before crashing in Mwihoko. He stated that the organisation is “cooperating fully with relevant aviation authorities and emergency response teams to establish the facts surrounding the situation.”
Foreign Couple Killed in Kenyan Plane Crash, Earlier in January, a light aircraft crash killed a foreign couple aboard. The accident involved a Cessna 185 aircraft that departed from Nairobi and was en route to Mbaruk in Nakuru County. It went down in the lakeside town of Naivasha at approximately 5:14 p.m. local time (1414 GMT).
At the time, Naivasha Police Deputy Chief Charles Mwai suggested that poor visibility due to fog in the area might have been a contributing factor. Aviation experts have been called to the scene to conduct an investigation.
Headline
UK Police Arrest Asylum Seeker Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed

The UK police on Sunday arrested an Ethiopian asylum seeker and convicted sex offender, whose crimes had sparked anti-immigration protests, after he was accidentally released from prison in an embarrassing blunder by British authorities.
London’s Metropolitan Police said officers arrested Hadush Kebatu in the north of the capital on Sunday morning, nearly 48 hours after he was mistakenly freed around 30 miles (48 kilometres) away.
Kebatu, 38, had served the first month of a one-year sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman, but was reportedly due to be deported when the Prison Service error occurred on Friday.
His high-profile case earlier this year in Epping, northeast of London, sparked demonstrations in various English towns and cities where asylum seekers were believed to be housed, as well as counter-protests.
READ ALSO:UK Police Hunt Asylum Seeker Mistakenly Freed For Sex Offence
Commander James Conway, who oversaw the manhunt for him, said “information from the public” led officers to the Finsbury Park neighbourhood of London, where he was found.
“He was detained by police but will be returned to the custody of the Prison Service,” he added.
Kebatu is now expected to be deported.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Friday he was “appalled” by the “totally unacceptable” mistake that saw him freed rather than sent to an immigration detention centre.
The Telegraph newspaper said he was wrongly categorised for release on licence and handed a £76 ($101) discharge grant.
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Police had appealed Saturday for Kebatu to turn himself in, after reports emerged that he had appeared confused and reluctant to leave the prison in Chelmsford, eastern England.
A delivery driver described seeing Kebatu return several times in a “very confused” state, only to be turned away by staff and directed to the railway station.
The driver told Sky News he saw Kebatu outside the jail, asking, “Where am I going? What am I doing?”
“He was starting to get upset, he was getting stressed,” the driver said.
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The father of Kebatu’s anonymous teenage victim told the broadcaster that “the justice system has let us down.”
Police arrested the asylum seeker in July after he repeatedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl and touch her legs, and made sexually explicit comments to her.
He also sexually assaulted an adult woman, placing a hand on her thigh, when she intervened to stop his interactions with the girl.
He was staying at the time at Epping’s Bell Hotel, where scores of other asylum seekers have been accommodated, and which became the target of repeated protests.
AFP
Headline
Madagascar Revokes Ousted President’s Nationality

Madagascar’s new government has stripped ousted president Andry Rajoelina of his Malagasy nationality in a decree published Friday, 10 days after he was removed in a military takeover.
According to AFP, the decree means that Rajoelina, who was impeached on October 14 after fleeing the island nation in the wake of weeks of protests, would not be able to contest future election.
The decree published in the official gazette said Rajoelina’s Malagasy nationality was revoked because he had acquired French nationality in 2014, local media reported, as photographs of the document were shared online.
READ ALSO:Madagascar’s President Denounces ‘Coup Attempt’ As Gen Z Protests Escalate
French broadcaster RFI said it had confirmed the decree with the entourage of the new prime minister, Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, who signed the order.
The decree cited laws stipulating that a Malagasy who voluntarily acquires a foreign nationality loses their Malagasy nationality.
Rajoelina’s French nationality caused a scandal when it was revealed ahead of the November 2023 elections, nearly 10 years after it was granted.
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It triggered calls for him to be disqualified but he went on to win the contested polls, which were boycotted by opposition parties.
The 51-year-old politician fled Madagascar after army Colonel Michael Randrianirina said on October 11 his CAPSAT unit would refuse orders to put down the youth-led protest movement, which security forces had attempted to suppress with violence.
Rajoelina said later he was in hiding for his safety, but did not say where.
Randrianirina was sworn in as president on October 14, pledging elections within two years.
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