The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, on Wednesday disclosed that no fewer than 85 staff of the commission died in 2017.
Yakubu, who appeared before the Senate Committee on INEC to defend the Commission’s 2018 budget, also informed the lawmakers that new card readers would be deployed for Ekiti State governorship election holding this year.
According to him: “We lost at 85 staff in 2017 due to natural death and accident.”
He also added that the has already ordered for 2019 ballot boxes worth about N1.4 billion, explaining that in the next elections, each state will have its own ballot boxes.
Yakubu said: “We have ordered our ballot boxes in 2017, which cost N1.4 billion.
“We have been using same ballot boxes.
“INEC will no longer rely on other states for ballot boxes.
“So new ballot boxes will be used for 2019 general elections.
“We have been using same card readers, but we have ordered for more card readers.”
When asked about the cost of the general elections in 2019, the chairman said the commission is yet to prepare the budget for the 2019 general elections, lamenting that so much money is being spent on elections.
Yakubu explained further that it is impossible for the commission to come out with the budget for 2019 general elections when the National Assembly is yet to conclude work on amendments of the Electoral Act.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Suleiman Nazif, said the committee may call back the INEC chairman to address the grey areas in the budget.
