President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has allocated a historic ₦1,013,778,401,602 (approximately ₦1.01 trillion) to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the 2026 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly.
This substantial funding one of the largest single allocations ever made to the electoral body comes as preparations intensify for the 2027 general elections.
The figure is contained in the detailed breakdown of the 2026 budget released by the Budget Office of the Federation.
The overall proposed budget, titled “Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity,” totals ₦58.18 trillion, with projected revenue of ₦34.33 trillion and debt service obligations amounting to ₦15.52 trillion.
The generous allocation to INEC is in line with Section 3(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, which requires that funds for general elections be released to the commission at least one year before the polls.
Experts point out that the early and significant funding will help address major logistical and operational needs, including:
- Procurement of new voting and result-transmission technologies
- Nationwide voter education campaigns
- Recruitment, training, and deployment of ad-hoc staff
- Maintenance and expansion of polling infrastructure across 176,846 polling units
For context, INEC’s election spending has increased over time due to Nigeria’s growing voter population (now over 93 million registered voters) and rising costs:
2015 general elections: ~₦108.8 billion
2019 general elections: ~₦143 billion
2023 general elections: ₦313.4 billion released (out of ₦355 billion approved)
Professor Bolade Eyinla, former Chief Technical Adviser to INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, estimated in October 2025 that conducting the 2027 elections could cost around ₦870 billion (approximately US$600 million at the time).
This projection accounts for inflation, exchange rate fluctuations, and the scale of operations in Africa’s most populous nation.
On a per-voter basis, the estimated ₦870 billion translates to roughly US$6.72 per voter, a figure that remains among the lower costs in Africa and comparable to other large democracies such as India (US$8.5 per voter in 2019).
The record proposed allocation underscores the federal government’s stated commitment to credible, transparent, and adequately resourced elections in 2027.
Stakeholders will closely monitor how INEC deploys and accounts for these funds to deliver improvements over previous electoral cycles.
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