The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, said on Monday that the commission would require N305 billion to conduct the 2023 general elections.
Yakubu spoke at a meeting with the Senate Committee on Appropriation at the National Assembly, saying that the fund will enable the electoral body to prepare for the election and purchase all the election materials needed and also cover several bye-elections across the country.
The INEC boss, however, said that the commission had received N100 billion out of the required amount for the elections.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Jibrin Barau, on Tuesday said that the 2022 budget would be laid, debated, and passed on Tuesday, December 21.
This is coming as President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to write to the National Assembly on his decision to give or withdraw his assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
Recall that the 30-day deadline stipulated by the constitution for the president to respond to the bill expired on Sunday, December 19.
The National Assembly is expected to commence its Christmas and New Year holidays after the plenary on Tuesday, December 21.