The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has received cash from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for election logistics.
A national Commissioner of INEC disclosed this on Thursday night.
There had been concerns over the inability of INEC to get cash from the CBN even though its budget is a first line charge. This was as a result of the cashless policy introduced by the CBN with the support of the federal government.
INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmud Yakubu, had during a visit to CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele said they needed cash rather than bank transfers to sort out many of their activities.
The commission had explained that even though it does most of its payments through online transfers, some specific services have to be paid for in cash.
He said some of the service providers, especially transporters, are required to be paid in cash and besides, experience has shown that emergency situations do arise on Election Day, which could demand the use of cash by the commission.
However, the INEC national commissioner, who spoke in confidence with Daily Trust, 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