INEC Allegedly Set To Destroy N9 Billion Ballot Papers From 2015 Elections

Posted by Odinaka on Thu 23rd Jul, 2015 - tori.ng

The INEC is set to destroy up to 200 million copies of the ballot papers (which cost Nigeria N9 billion) used in the 2015 election...

According to an exclusive report on Nigerian Tribune, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is set to destroy most of the ballot papers used in the 2015 election any moment from now. The commission is set to burn close to 200 million copies of the ballot papers printed abroad in late 2014 and early 2015.

The ballot papers, which cost Nigeria N9 billion, are to be destroyed as they are actually supposed to be disposable items, which should not have been sophisticated.

It was gathered that officials of the commission were already moving the materials to the six zonal offices across the country, where they were to be destroyed. Sources said that the decision to burn the materials was a clear evidence of waste complained about by some Nigerians during the tenure of Professor Attahiru Jega.

Report further states that some officials of the commission had argued in 2014 that INEC did not need to print the ballot papers abroad and that awarding the contracts locally would mitigate capital flight and also save money.

“What happened was that the commission printed all the ballot papers meant for use at a go. It printed 75 million copies for presidential election, another of the same volume for possible rerun and there is a balance of five per cent on each volume. The same was done for all the other elections –Senate, House of Representatives, governorship and state House of Assembly.

What happens is that the commission eventually used less than 20 per cent of the printed ballot papers and then there is excess ballot papers everywhere. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) raised the alarm that the excess ballot papers were congesting its stores and the commission had to start moving them to the zonal offices.

The ballots set aside to be burnt are the excess copies printed for rerun and those that were not used during the elections. Any moment from now, they will be burnt,” a source said.

But the Director of Publicity and Voter Education of INEC, Mr Oluwole Ozeze Uzzi, denied knowledge of the planned destruction of ballot papers. He said the commission usually keeps ballot papers for some time. “That cannot be true. We don’t have excess papers,” he said.