INEC’s N873.78bn Election Budget: Transparency, Technology and the Real Question About Real-Time Results Transmission
Nigeria is gearing up for the 2027 general elections, and the buzz across political, civic and digital spaces is now squarely focused on INEC’s proposed budget — a staggering ₦873.78 billion — and what it means for the future of election transparency in Africa’s largest democracy. At the same time, the electoral umpire has asked for ₦171 billion to fund its operations in the 2026 fiscal year, raising fresh questions about how funds are being allocated, what they will be spent on, and why real-time electronic transmission of results is still not guaranteed.
This blog unpacks what this massive budget entails, the context of technological spending, the controversy over real-time results transmission, and why citizens — rightfully — want accountability and transparency.
1. What INEC’s Proposed ₦873.78bn Budget Actually Covers
On February 12, 2026, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, appeared before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters to defend the Commission’s budget proposal for both the 2026 operations and the 2027 general elections.
1.1. The ₦873.78bn Election Budget Breakdown
The proposed ₦873.78 billion for the 2027 general election is divided into several key components:
Operational Costs – ₦379.75bn: This covers logistics, manpower deployment, election day operations across all states and local governments.
Administrative Costs – ₦92.32bn: Includes office running expenditures and support services.
Technological Costs – ₦209.21bn: Major chunk earmarked for technology — including voting systems, result management systems, and other IT infrastructure.
Capital Expenditure – ₦154.91bn: Spent on facilities, equipment and structural improvements required for election readiness.
Miscellaneous Please – ₦42.61bn: A catch-all for contingencies and other unpredictable costs.
This represents a significant increase from the ₦313.4bn released for the 2023 general election, indicating how much more the Commission believes is needed to manage nationwide polls in an era of expanding voter population, rising costs, and technological demands.
2. The Separate ₦171bn Budget for 2026 Operations
INEC also presented its 2026 operational budget request of ₦171 billion, distinct from the 2027 election budget. This funding is expected to support its routine activities for the year leading up to the polls — including bye-elections, off-cycle elections, voter education, staff salaries, and preparatory processes.
Here’s how that figure breaks down:
Personnel Costs – ₦109bn – Salaries and allowances for staff and ad-hoc workers.
Overheads – ₦18.7bn – Day-to-day administrative spending.
Election-related Activities – ₦42.63bn – Preparations ahead of polls.
Capital Expenditure – ₦1.4bn – New equipment and physical assets.
However, the Ministry of Finance initially set an envelope ceiling of ₦140bn, citing fiscal constraints, leaving INEC to argue it needs more to deliver on its mandate properly.
3. Why Technology Spending Raises Eyebrows
The most controversial part of INEC’s election budget is the ₦209.21bn earmarked for technology. Over ₦200bn is not a small allocation in a country where federal budget ceilings are hotly debated and often contested across ministries and agencies.
This technology budget is supposed to cover:
Development and procurement of digital voting support tools
Hybrid e-EC8A and Result Management Systems (RMS) upgrades
Printing and distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs)
Network infrastructure and server support nationwide
Yet, it is precisely this technology portion that has sparked public skepticism and political controversy — particularly around why real-time electronic transmission of election results is not required by law, despite such large sums being spent on tech.
4. The Real-Time Results Controversy: What’s the Big Deal?
Since the 2019 and 2023 elections, Nigerians have heard repeated promises about results being uploaded in real time via digital platforms such as the INEC Result Viewing portal (IReV). However, these assurances have not fully materialised — partly due to legislative changes and partly because the legal framework for mandatory real-time transmission remains unresolved.
In early 2026, the Senate debated amendments to the Electoral Act. One of the major points of contention was Clause 60(3) — which would mandate that presiding officers transmit results electronically in real time to the IReV portal as soon as they are declared at each polling unit.
However, while the House of Representatives supported mandating real-time transmission, the Senate ultimately removed the strict language requiring it, instead allowing INEC to decide how and when to transmit results electronically.
INEC itself has declined to comment on whether it currently has the capacity to conduct real-time transmission nationwide, pending finalisation of the Electoral Act amendment process.
5. Why Citizens Are Concerned
Given the huge sums allocated to technology within INEC’s budget, many citizens, civil society organisations, and political commentators have questioned why the law does not mandate real-time result transmission — a system that would make the electoral process more transparent and less prone to manipulation.
Here’s why this matters:
5.1 Transparency and Trust in the Electoral System
Real-time transmission means that election results from every polling unit are instantly visible to the public, independent of central offices. This reduces the opportunity for:
Tampering with results
Delayed uploads that enable vote substitution
Post-election disputes based on conflicting figures
Without it, results only become public through manual collation and later announcements — which citizens and observers argue increases the risk of manipulation or loss of trust.
5.2 Expectations vs. Reality
In previous elections, INEC had created expectations that the IReV portal would provide real-time visibility into results. However, because that provision was never enshrined in law, the system functioned more as a supplementary tool — not a legally mandated mechanism — making its use inconsistent and open to interpretation.
Some lawmakers have warned INEC to avoid overly ambitious promises, citing the gap between technological capability and legal requirements.
6. The Broader Implications of a ₦1 Trillion Election Budget
There’s no denying that administering an election in Nigeria — a country with over 90 million registered voters — is a massive undertaking. Costs include:
Printing and distribution of PVCs and electoral materials
Deployment and training of ad-hoc staff in thousands of locations
Logistics for ballot boxes, security presence, and transportation
Technology infrastructure across diverse terrain and connectivity zones
Yet, when nearly ₦1 trillion is allocated and parts of that budget become a focal point of public distrust — particularly technology — it raises deeper questions about accountability, public engagement, and institutional transparency.
7. Accountability: The Missing Piece
For a budget of such scale to be justified, citizens expect:
Clear public reporting of technological line-item expenditures
Transparent discussions about capacity for real-time result transmission
Legislative backing that aligns funding with statutory requirements
Independent audits to track spending and outcomes
These are not just administrative niceties — they are essential elements in ensuring that democracy is credible, transparent and inclusive.
Conclusion: Money Without Transparency Is Not Enough
INEC’s proposed ₦873.78bn for the 2027 general elections and ₦171bn for 2026 operations underscore the sheer scale and complexity of running elections in Nigeria. However, the controversy around real-time transmission of results raises a fundamental question: What is the purpose of such significant technological investment if the legal environment and implementation tools are not aligned with real-time transparency?
With money allocated but not matched by legally mandated transparency mechanisms, many Nigerians fear that accountability may be undermined — and the opportunity to strengthen trust in the electoral system might be squandered.
If Nigeria is serious about credible elections, then aligning funding, law and technology must be a top priority — otherwise, billions will be spent without delivering the transparency and trust elections deserve.
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