Account for ₦55.9bn election funds, SERAP tells INEC

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The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has asked the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Joash Amupitan, to explain what happened to an alleged ₦55.9bn meant for the procurement of smart card readers, ballot papers, result sheets and other materials for the 2019 general elections.

SERAP said the allegations were taken from the latest annual report released by the Auditor-General of the Federation on September 9, 2025.

In the letter dated December 6, 2025 and signed by its deputy director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP urged INEC to release the names and details of the contractors involved in the transactions.

“INEC must operate without corruption if the commission is to uphold Nigerians’ right to participation in their own government,” SERAP said, adding that, “Allegations of corruption in the supply of smart card readers, ballot papers, result sheets and other election materials directly undermine Nigerians’ right to participate in elections that are free, fair, transparent, and credible.”

The organisation said the Audit Report revealed several “grave violations of constitutional and international standards,” urging the INEC chairman to refer the case to anti-corruption agencies “to ensure the full recovery of proceeds of corruption.”

SERAP quoted the Auditor-General as saying that INEC “irregularly paid over ₦5.3bn to a contractor for the supply of smart card readers for the 2019 general elections.”

The audit stated that the commission made the payment “without any document and any evidence of supplies to the commission.”

The Auditor-General rejected INEC’s defence that the procurement was exempted for national security reasons, describing the claim as “alien to the Procurement Act.”

The report said,”INEC ought to have received a Certificate of No Objection from the BPP for the contract.”

On ballot papers and result sheets, the report noted that INEC “paid over ₦4.5bn to six contractors,” but “the payments were without any documentary evidence of supply.” It added that there was “no evidence of advertisement, bid submission, bid evaluation, approvals and no Certificate of No Objection.”

The Auditor-General also noted that INEC provided “no evidence of the contractors’ eligibility,” listing missing documents including “tax clearance certificate, pension clearance certificate, NSITF certificate, ITF certificate of compliance, and BPP registration.”

In another query, the audit report said INEC made payments of ₦331m “in doubtful circumstances” and cited instances where “the contractors were paid even before the award of the contracts.” One example showed that the contract for 25 generating sets was dated 28 December 2019, but “the receipt for the payment was issued 12 months before the contract.”

On stamp duties, the Auditor-General said INEC failed “to deduct over ₦2.1bn of stamp duty from contractors between 2018 and 2019,” rejecting the commission’s explanation as “unsatisfactory.”

Another query faulted unretired cash advances totalling ₦630.6m, stating that “some officers were granted multiple advances when the previous ones had not been retired.”

The audit also questioned over ₦41bn in contracts awarded for ballot papers and result sheets “without due process,” noting: “There was no evidence that the contractors were eligible to carry out such contracts.” It said some of the companies involved were “Civil Engineering Construction Company, Oil and Gas Company and Importer of Building Materials.”

On vehicle procurement, the report said INEC “irregularly awarded a contract for the supply of four Toyota Land Cruisers for over ₦297m,” adding that the market survey showed that “the price of Toyota Land Cruiser in 2019 was not above ₦50m.”

Across multiple entries, the Auditor-General warned that the funds queried “may have been diverted” and recommended that they be recovered and remitted to the treasury.

SERAP described the findings as “a grave violation of the public trust,” stating: “INEC cannot ensure impartial administration of future elections if these allegations are not satisfactorily addressed and suspected perpetrators are not prosecuted.”

The organisation gave INEC seven days to act, warning,”If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel you and INEC to comply with our request in the public interest.”

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