By Promise Eze
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has finally received the cash it requested from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to prosecute the 2023 general elections.
Recall that INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Committee on Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, had earlier in the week disclosed that the CBN would grant the commission’s cash request on or before Tuesday, February 21, 2023.
A national Commissioner of INEC speaking to Daily Trust on Thursday night said branch controllers of the CBN have been instructed to disburse the funds to INEC offices in the states.
“The issue of the cash crunch has been resolved and our resident electoral commissioners have started collecting the money,” he said.
“Before they got the clearance to have access to the money, we earlier sent the requests to CBN based on the demands of each state. What the REC in each state requires is different depending on the topography of their states and it is based on this that the funds were approved.”
He said the commission had asked security operatives to work closely with INEC in order to ensure a hitch-free disbursement from the commission’s state headquarters to the LGAs.
Confirming the release of the funds, the Oyo State REC, Dr Adeniran Rahmon Tella, yesterday, told journalists at a news conference that the commission had secured CBN to offset the payment of ad-hoc staff.
