The National Assembly faces a litmus test Tuesday as it considers the N74 billion budget demanded by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a new voter registration exercise. The public outcry that greeted the announcement of the budget last week forced Ike Ekwerenmadu, Deputy Senate President, and some other legislators, to call for a review of the budget, describing it as ‘too high’.
A lot of questions beg for answers as the budget comes before the parliamentarians: Who did the costing? Which IT consultants advised INEC in computing the costs? Who are INEC’s equipment suppliers for the project? Where has the recommended types of equipment been used before, and at what cost? Was thorough price sampling done in determining the costs? Could the same equipment be procured at much cheaper costs? All of INEC’s statements concerning the cost of the voter registration exercise have been devoid of itemized details of the expenditure pattern.
BusinessDay’s investigations on the cost of similar exercises in Bangladesh, India, South Africa and Ghana – four countries that INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, specifically said his administration would learn from – indicate that none of them spent, on per capita basis, half the cost that INEC has given for the exercise. INEC’s N74 billion amounts to N1,138 per registered voter given the country’s estimated 65 million voter population.
INEC particularly identifies Bangladesh as a successful example it hopes to model after, following counsel by multi-lateral agencies and institutional advisers. The voter list compiled in 2008 by the Bangladesh Elections Commission registered over 80 million eligible voters using biometric face and fingerprint technology at a total cost of $65 million (N9.75 billion), amounting to a per capita cost of N121.88. With a population of 165 million, Bangladesh is the seventh most populous country in the world.
The country’s electricity supply is as epileptic as that of Nigeria. With a total installed capacity of 5,493 megawatts, its national power authority, Power Development Board (PDB), manages to generate between 3,000 and 3,500mw, a situation which makes it one of the most deficient in electricity infrastructure. The registration exercise in Bangladesh witnessed significant deployment of generating sets in rural and urban areas to cater for power supply shortfall.
India, with a voter population of 714 million, executed a similar exercise at a per capita cost of $0.62. With a voter population of 12.8 million, Ghana conducted its 2008 elections at the cost of $40 million, which amounts to an overall per capita of $3. This cost includes voter registration, public enlightenment and other logistics as well as the actual conduct of the elections. The elections, which ushered in the administration of incumbent President John Atta Mills, witnessed two presidential run-offs.
Some information technology experts who spoke with BusinessDay while acknowledging the technological edge the Asian region has over Africa, are of the opinion that the wide cost estimate differential seems inordinate and therefore difficult to defend.
Business Day
Nigerians have a way of building mountains out of moles.
This issue of 74billion is being over popularised.
There are points we dont seem to take into cognizance and that is.
Some people are looking for avenues to return Nigeria to the notorious selection format instead of election.
Some people really mean to rig the next election and that is why all the talks about the election started very late.
With just under four months to election we are still debating on how much is to be spent on voters’ registration alone not to talk of the election itself.
If we take a closer look we notice some calculated plan to plug a wedge on the next election which has attracted international attention and is the litmus test that will determine the level of Nigeria’s Democratic maturity.
In my mind I would suggest we give the INEC all that they ask for and set in motion all mechanism to monitor every detail of their actions all through the election.
It is not the fault of INEC that things are coming on so late. And Nigeria has been known to be a last minute strategist which is more expensive.
There are other pressing issues that require our attention than debating on to cut down or to swell up the budget. After all has anybody gone through the past records of budgeting in Nigeria to notice that in 2009 alone The National Assembly passed 188 bills and their first bill titled SB 231 They authorised the issuance of 3 trillion 8 hundred and 70 billion 5 hundred and 10 million 42 thousand 6 hundred and 79 naira as budget for current and recurrent expenditure.
So you will notice that the National Assembly is used to counting in Trillions so Billion is just a minor digit to them.
The case of Nigeria is not similar to all the other countries we are comparing ourselves to.
If in nothing none of those country never executed their program in a hurried way.
So let us not give room to our making Maurice Iwu a saint and creating and tarnishing the repute of another Nigerian Academia and reputed Professor and Vice Chancellor.
Let us shelve all talks and forge ahead.
The total amount is going to after all benefit as we were meant to understand 360 thousand Nigerians that will be recruited for the exercise.
Let us not go into the mathematics of how it will be dispensed for now otherwise dividing 37 states including Abuja to the amount each state will get 2 billion.
But it is not in that proportion.
Let us avoid any excuse for anybody to tell us that there were hitches here and there.
I think that No Price is too Much to install a Creditable Government in Nigeria.
Another thief has been appointed.why are 95% politicians in naija thieves? Dis new thief jus came to take a share of d national cake