The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu said the commission will save N300 million for scheduling to hold governorship and senatorial elections in Kogi consecutively.
The Chairman stated this on Thursday during the 2020 Budget defence before a Joint senate and House of Assembly committee on INEC.
Yakubu said the idea came when INEC was served a court order which nullified the senatorial election of in Kogi West.
“We decided to combine the two elections after realising a margin of N300 million. So, voters in Kogi West will now have two ballot papers and 2 boxes during the election.
“We have saved the cost of adhoc staff, observers, media and other logistics of conducting two elections, independently,” he said.
He also said that the commission will combine governorship in Bayelsa with supplementary election in 6 places in Brass local government area.
Responding to a query on why the INEC almost in every budget defence is caught with expenditure outside budget envelop, Mahmud responded that they work under sheered pressure to carryout some electoral process that couldn’t have been possible if they waited for budgetary allocations.
“Its very hectic time for us, it was almost impossible for us to conduct election in 2018 without spending outside the budget envelop,” he said.
He cited the issue of bye elections and supplementary elections as some of the reasons that forced the commission to resort to extra budgetary spending.
“It’s something I don’t want to say, but from 2015 to 2019, on an average, one National Assembly member died every month, and we must conduct election to replace them,” he said.
The chairman of the senate committee, Senator Adamu Aliero, commended the INEC chairman for saving N300 million.
