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Ballot boxes for 2019 elections to gulp N1.4bn –INEC boss

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Ballot boxes for 2019 elections to gulp N1.4bn –INEC boss

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, Professor Yakubu Mahmood, on Monday disclosed that purchased of ballot boxes for the 2019 general elections will gulp about N1.4 billion.

He made this disclosure before members of the House of Representative Committee on Electoral Matters and Political Parties Affairs during the 2016 budget defence session on Monday in Abuja.

He added that N500 million has also been earmarked for the continuous voter registration exercise across the country.

Justifying why such amount was earmarked for the purchase of ballot boxes, Mahmood explained that the electoral body has intention to do away with collapsible transparent ballot boxes and replace them with plastic ones.

He said the need to use the transparent ballot boxes during the 2019 general elections will not be necessary.

According to the INEC boss, as much as the commission would like to patronise locally manufactured ballot boxes and other electoral materials, the inability of local manufacturers to deliver the required volume within the stipulated time frame for elections remains a challenge confronting it.

“Sometimes, it is easier said that we have manufacturers who have the capacity; but when you engage them, you realise that we may not have such capacity for volumes and this is not only peculiar to elections.

“Immediately you try to produce something locally, somebody rushes to register a patent and claims ownership of that idea. Right now, we have litigations running into trillions of naira by people who said the patent for smart card reader is theirs.

“And they may get favourable judgment that requires us to pay some fantastic amount. So, while it is important for us to encourage our domestic producers, we are also careful about that because some of the procurement items are time bound,” Mahmood said.

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While Mahmood failed to state the exact or approximate amount INEC would require to conduct the 2019 general elections, he however, said that the electoral body is working on strategic plans which will guarantee a hitch-free exercise.

“We wouldn’t like to guess an amount; so, we want to go through this painstaking process of producing a strategic plan. I think it is better for us to do the proper thing so that we approach the Executive and the National Assembly with a figure we can vouch for.

“And once it is approved, we don’t come back to request another supplementary figure,” he said.

Earlier, the chairman of the committee, Aishatu Dukku stressed the need for the commission’s 2017 budget to reflect public accountability and transparency.

Mahmood started out as INEC chairman with several records of inconclusive elections. While the recent elections in Edo and Ondo states as well as re-run election in Rivers State moved from being inconclusive as did previous one, they were however marred with plethora of electoral offences even allegedly involving INEC officials.

 

 

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