By Francis Ajuonuma
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over alleged failure to account for more than ₦126.46bn in public funds appropriated for electoral operations.
SERAP said the funds, which covered the procurement of ballot boxes, electoral devices and materials, sensitive materials, result sheets, vehicles and accreditation equipment, as well as audit, consultancy and digital archiving services, were allegedly diverted, lost, mismanaged or otherwise unaccounted for.
The organisation, in a suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, is asking the court to compel INEC to disclose detailed information on the expenditure, utilisation and disbursement of the funds, including amounts released and paid, beneficiaries of payments, contractors and their beneficial owners.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2507/2026, followed findings contained in the 2023 audited report of the Auditor-General of the Federation, published on August 7, 2026. The audit findings covered transactions between January and December 2022 and, in some instances, extended to December 31, 2023.
According to SERAP, the Auditor-General identified several transactions involving INEC which raised concerns over procurement procedures, payment for goods and services and the possible diversion or loss of public funds.
The organisation said the most significant finding involved ₦112.16bn allegedly paid for ballot boxes, electoral devices, items and materials without competitive bidding or a Certificate of No Objection from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).
SERAP said the Auditor-General found no evidence that the items had been procured and noted that contracts were awarded to companies whose competence, experience, capacity, addresses and factory locations were unknown.
The audit also raised concerns over ₦1.06bn paid for Toyota Prado TXL vehicles without advertisement, competitive bidding, bid evaluation or a BPP Certificate of No Objection.
Other questioned transactions included ₦3.14bn paid to four contractors for ballot guides, sensitive materials and result sheets before contracts were awarded; ₦9.25bn for 22 contracts allegedly split to circumvent procurement procedures; and ₦129.38m paid to 19 accounting firms for financial audit services without evidence of utilisation.
The Auditor-General also queried payments of ₦504.49m for accreditation devices and ₦235.10m to contractors for sleeping mats and digital archiving.
SERAP is asking the court to compel INEC to provide documentary and physical evidence showing that the electoral materials covered by the audit findings were actually procured and to account for their current location and status.
The organisation is also seeking disclosure of the identities of contractors, suppliers and consultants who received the funds, as well as officials who authorised or processed the transactions.
SERAP said transparency was particularly important with the 2027 general elections approaching, arguing that electoral resources must be properly accounted for to protect public confidence in the electoral process.
In its suit filed by lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi and Andrew Nwankwo, SERAP argued: “Electoral resources are public resources. INEC must be able to account for every naira, demonstrate that it was lawfully spent and show that it served the purposes for which it was appropriated.”
No date has been fixed for hearing of the su
