INEC is broke, can’t pay salary, says Jega

BY JOSEPH ERUNKE

ABUJA – Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is so broke that it may not be able to pay staff salaries, as from next month.

The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega disclosed this to bewildered members of the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters who visited INEC headquarters in Abuja, Wednesdasy.

Acting Chairman of INEC, Dr Abdulkadir Sulaiman, who represented Prof. Jega said “if we don’t do anything about it on time, we may not be able to pay salary by next month’’.

Following this development, the chairman called on the legislators to quickly intervene and save the situation, else the commission’s aspiration of conducting the 2015 general election in line with international best practice would be a mirage.

He also told the visiting legislators led by the Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Hon Jerry Manwe that the paucity of his fund has drastically slowed down the pace of work on all the capital projects being currently executed by the nation’s electoral umpire.

Professor Jega explained that out of the N35 billion earmarked for the commission in this year’s budget, only 10 billion was released to it in March this year which was meant for the first quarter.