The Joint Senate/House of Representatives Committee on INEC has called for more budgetary provision for the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC in the 2024 fiscal year.
The co-Chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator Ali Sharafadeen, stated that the envelope given to the Commission is barely enough to pay salaries.
Speaking with journalists after submitting reports of the budget defence to the Committee on Appropriation on Wednesday, Senator Ali said there was a need to increase the budgetary allocation to the Commission.
He said relying on Supplementary Budgets would not be the proper thing to do as primaries for 2024 elections are slated for the first quarter of the year.
“The envelope given to INEC is barely enough to pay salaries, and they have two off-cycle gubernatorial elections as wall as re-run and bye-elections in 2024.
“There’s need to increase their budget now because supplementary budget can not work; primaries for elections are commencing around February, so certainly it’s not a good time to bring supplementary budgets.
“the best thing is to make the necessary provisions now and that’s is why we are pleading for increased budgetary provision for INEC in the 2024 fiscal year”He said.
The lawmaker noted that though the Appropriation Committee is yet to say no or yes to their request, they will continue to engage them.
