2023 Election won’t be threatened by insecurity, census – Sen Gaya

By Tunde Opalana

Neither the nagging security lapses nor census head count can affect the scheduled conduct of the 2023 general election.

Chairman Senate Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Senator Kabiru Gaya gave this assurance in Abuja on Wednesday.

Gaya explained that both INEC and the National Population Commission (NPC) are separate agencies with different mandates which should not affect one another, while assuring of Federal Government resolve to improve on security situations in the country as well as providing adequate security during after the 2023 general elections.

He said this while fielding questions from newsmen after presenting his committee’s report to the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

He said “we have been monitoring and discussing with INEC and also overseeing what they are doing on the issue of insecurity and how they can conduct election.

“Every day we speak to them on the challenges before them and they show us solutions to those challenges hoping that by 2023 this election will hold and it will be peaceful and transparent,” he said.

The Committee chairman justified request by INEC for additional funding by saying ” the additional funds is justifiable due to the fact that the value of the Naira has changed and the cost of things are not encouraging therefore we proposed additional N50 billion for INEC to Appropriation committee.

“If INEC gets it right our democracy will be on the right path,”

Meanwhile, the National Population Commission (NPC) has proposed N532.7billion for the conduct national census in April 2023.

Chairman of the Commission, Alhaji Nasir Isa Kwarra made the disclosure to members of the Senate Committee on National Population and Identity Management during 2023 budget defence session with the committee.

He said “aside the N10billion budgetary proposal for 2023 fiscal year earmarked for NPC, the sum of N532. 795, 604, 726billion is estimated for conduct of 2023 Census.

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“NPC is ready to re- write the history of census in Nigeria by making the 2023 one not only accurate, credible, reliable but acceptable to all Nigerians “, he said.

He added that the proposed sum for conduct of 2023 census, covers post enumeration survey and that the exercise will be a great departure from the past in terms of keying into the issue of climate change.

Kwarra also presented the 2023 budget for the Commission. NPC proposed N1.05billio for capital expenditure, N655million for overhead and N8.6billion for personnel, Daily Times gathered.

For the 2022 fiscal year, the NPC boss said a total of N206.85billion was appropriated for the commission out which N107.7billion was earmarked for capital expenditure, N615million for overhead and N7.8billion for personnel cost.

But the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Sahabi Ya’u (APC Zamfara North), told the NPC boss to furnish the committee with details of projects executed with the 2022 appropriation line by line and those proposed for the 2023 fiscal year.