Electing Nigeria’s next president will cost citizens N253.9bn, most expensive in history

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that 93 million eligible Nigerians have registered for the upcoming elections - 40 percent of the voters are below 35.

Several polls have generated conflicting results with the bookmakers tipping the candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi to defeat Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

While the election has been described as the most competitive since the 1993 and arguably the 1999 presidential elections, it will come at great to the tax payer.

According to Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), N355 billion would be needed to execute the general election.

Professor Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), recently announced that N355 billion would be needed to execute the general election.

According to a report by Vanguard, INEC disclosed that the money will be used
in the procurement of accreditation devices, referenda and expenses such as; operation department cost covering, the printing of ballot papers, result sheets, the printing of forms and envelopes, arterials and supplies, logistics expenses, honorarium for officials, supervision, RAC preparation, security and intervention support etc.

According to a BBC report, INEC plans to spend $7 per voter in the election, slightly above the $6.24 it spent per voter in the 2019 general elections.

With the 87.2m (87,209,007) of registered voters collecting their PVCs and INEC spending $7 per voter at the official exchange rate of N461, electing Nigeria's next president will cost N253.9 billion.

Globally accepted cost per voter

Conducting elections is expensive worldwide, and the cost varies by nation and electoral event, including the form and size of the democracy, country population, and frequency of elections.

As a result, the average Cost per Registered Voter Index (COVI) is used internationally to measure the sufficiency of election spending.

The average cost per voter in established and stable democracies is $1 to $3. It fluctuates from $4 to $8 in transitional democracies, while it is $9 and more in post-conflict and certain transitional democracies, Legit.ng reports.


NBA