The Senate at its plenary session of Wednesday, 7 November 2018, approved a new resolution on the virement of the sum of N242, 245,050,100 as the budget for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Security Agencies for the conduct of the 2019 general elections. This came as Sen. Goje (APC: Gombe), Chairman, Committee on Appropriations explained that his Committee had re-considered its decision and unanimously agreed that funds appropriated as the budget for Thirty (30) Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the 2018 Appropriation Act be vired for the 2019 General Elections.
While presenting the motion titled “Rescission and Reconsideration of the Senate Approval of Virement/Supplementary Budget for INEC and Security Agencies for the Conduct of the 2019 General Elections”, Sen. Goje urged lawmakers to adopt the new recommendation, or else issues of national and socio-economic importance may not be implemented if the source of funds were vired from only the Service Wide Votes allocated in the 2018 Appropriation Act.
In a related development, the Senate Committee on Police Affairs was also mandated to review how the funds appropriated for the conduct of the Ekiti and Osun State Governorship elections were expended by the Nigerian Police Force.
It would be recalled that the Senate at its plenary session of Tuesday, 16 October 2018, had approved the sum of N242, 245, 050, 100 as the total budget for INEC, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Department for State Security (DSS), Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) which was to be sourced from only the Service Wide Votes.
The list of MDAs from which the funds for the 2019 General Elections will be sourced are stated below:
| SOURCES OF FUND | ||||
| S/N | MDA | 2018 APPROPRIATION | VIREMENT | 2018 REVISED APPROPRIATION |
| 1 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT | 203,010,092,743 | 11,057,594,240 | 191,952,498,503 |
| 2 | MINISTRY OF BUDGET AND NATIONAL PLANNING | 1,785,525,979,677 | 8,845,154,871 | 1,776,680,824,806 |
| 3 | MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY | 19,765,740,637 | 828,501,025 | 18,937,239,612 |
| 4 | MINISTRY OF DEFENCE – MOD . | 576,399,335,199 | 2,636,334,357 | 573,763,000,841 |
| 5 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF EDUCATION | 651,226,697,523 | 10,238,444,433 | 640,988,253,091 |
| 6 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT | 35,378,408,624 | 2,006,248,705 | 33,372,159,919 |
| 7 | FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY ADMINISTRATION | 32,298,122,872 | 1,508,780,026 | 30,789,342,846 |
| 8 | MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS | 83,312,206,168 | 1,737,637,743 | 81,574,568,425 |
| 9 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF HEALTH | 356,450,966,085 | 8,059,195,896 | 348,391,770,190 |
| 10 | INDEPENDENT CORRUPT PRACTICES AND RELATED OFFENCES COMMISSION | 7,030,856,777 | 157,080,000 | 6,873,776,777 |
| 11 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF INFORMATION & CULTURE | 57,135,247,001 | 1,884,753,364 | 55,250,493,637 |
| 12 | MINISTRY OF INTERIOR | 576,708,246,704 | 1,676,128,108 | 575,032,118,596 |
| 13 | NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION | 3,013,745,000 | 170,430,753 | 2,843,314,247 |
| 14 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF JUSTICE | 28,751,625,728 | 557,939,433 | 28,193,686,295 |
| 15 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT | 27,397,512,045 | 2,727,731,478 | 24,669,780,567 |
| 16 | MINISTRY OF MINES AND STEEL DEVELOPMENT | 22,943,075,245 | 461,396,320 | 22,481,678,925 |
| 17 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF NIGER DELTA AFFAIRS | 131,419,020,657 | 1,199,044,000 | 130,219,976,657 |
| 18 | OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER | 122,680,943,684 | 1,120,504,000 | 121,560,439,684 |
| 19 | OFFICE OF THE HEAD OF THE CIVILSERVICE OF THE FEDERATION | 9,942,847,406 | 38,746,400 | 9,904,101,006 |
| 20 | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FEDERATION | 111,786,939,502 | 6,734,088,743 | 105,052,850,759 |
| 21 | MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM RESOURCES | 68,940,971,701 | 20,944,000 | 68,920,027,701 |
| 22 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF POWER WORKS & HOUSING | 714,668,969,899 | 25,527,821,945 | 689,141,147,954 |
| 23 | PRESIDENCY | 59,343,353,082 | 1,247,843,520 | 58,095,509,562 |
| 24 | PUBLIC COMPLAINTS COMMISSION | 7,480,000,000 | 48,171,200 | 7,431,828,800 |
| 25 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY – | 101,161,102,924 | 7,466,143,244 | 93,694,959,680 |
| 26 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY, TRADE AND INVESTMENT – | 117,770,088,516 | 7,085,582,899 | 110,684,505,617 |
| 27 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION. | 267,145,582,503 | 2,283,021,664 | 264,862,560,839 |
| 28 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF WATER RESOURCES | 155,149,395,652 | 12,954,799,500 | 142,194,596,153 |
| 29 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF WOMEN AFFAIRS | 7,409,748,628 | 319,699,353 | 7,090,049,275 |
| 30 | FEDERAL MINISTRY OF YOUTH & SPORTS DEVELOPMENT | 116,249,860,159 | 522,763,832 | 115,727,096,327 |
| SUBTOTAL | 6,457,496,682,340 | 121,122,525,050 | 6,336,374,157,290 | |
| SERVICE WIDE VOTE (Special Intervention Programme) | 500,000,000,000 | 121,122,525,050 | 378,877,474,950 | |
| TOTAL VIREMENT/SUPPLEMENTARY AS PASSED | 242,245,050,100 | |||
