Did you know the Auditor-General has reportedly questioned more than ₦112.15 billion that INEC spent on ballot boxes, electoral devices, and other materials, with no evidence that the items were actually procured?
And that is only one part of the story.
The audit reportedly found that the expenditure was made without competitive bidding or a BPP Certificate of No Objection. It also raised questions over ₦1.06 billion spent on Toyota Prado vehicles, ₦3.14 billion paid to four contractors before their contracts were awarded, and another ₦9.25 billion involving 22 contracts allegedly split to circumvent procurement procedures.
These are not small accounting discrepancies that can be waved away with a memo and a stamp. They concern public funds committed to an institution whose constitutional responsibility is to protect the integrity of our elections.
Also Read: http://Rivers Malaria Incidence Drops From 13% to 8.8% —Health Ministry
That is why SERAP’s demand that INEC account for more than ₦126 billion flagged in the Auditor-General’s report deserves serious public attention. The issue is not whether SERAP is politically convenient to one side or another. The issue is whether the money can be properly accounted for.
If the funds were properly spent, INEC should have no difficulty producing the records: procurement documents, approvals, evidence of delivery, beneficiaries, contracts and proof of utilisation. If there were procurement breaches but the materials were nevertheless delivered, that should be established. And if money was paid for goods or services that were never supplied, or public funds were diverted, then the law should take its course.
What Nigerians should not accept is a situation where the nation’s supreme audit institution can question billions of naira and the matter eventually disappears into the familiar administrative fog.
INEC is preparing for another general election. It will ask political parties, candidates and voters to trust its processes. That trust cannot be demanded on election day. It has to be earned long before the ballot is cast.
There is therefore nothing partisan about asking INEC to account for public money. In fact, making accountability partisan would defeat the whole purpose.
The same standard must apply whether the government in power is yours, mine, or somebody else’s.
Because if INEC is entrusted with protecting the sanctity of the ballot, who protects the money entrusted to INEC?
Let the documents answer that question.
By Solomon Dalung Esq
