The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has instituted a lawsuit against the Independent National Electoral Commission over its alleged failure to account for a “missing or diverted” ₦55.9 billion allocated for election materials during the 2019 general elections.
The allegations are contained in the most recent annual report of the Auditor-General of the Federation, released on 9 September 2025, and highlighted by SERAP in a post on its official X handle on Sunday.
In the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/38/2026 and filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is asking the court to issue an order of mandamus compelling INEC to explain how the funds, reportedly meant for the procurement of smart card readers, ballot papers, result sheets and other election materials, were utilised.
The case was filed on behalf of SERAP by its legal team, comprising Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi and Andrew Nwankwo. The organisation described the Auditor-General’s findings as a “grave violation of public trust, the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended), and international anti-corruption standards.”
According to SERAP, transparency and accountability on the part of INEC are essential to ensuring credible electoral processes in the country.
SERAP is also urging the court to compel INEC to publish the names of all contractors who received payments from the ₦55.9 billion, as well as details of their directors and shareholders.
The organisation maintained that “INEC must operate without corruption if the commission is to ensure free and fair elections in the country and uphold Nigerians’ right to participation.”
At the time of filing this report, no hearing date had been scheduled for the suit.
SERAP further argued that unresolved allegations of financial impropriety could negatively affect future elections, insisting that all individuals involved, including contractors allegedly implicated, must be prosecuted and that any misappropriated funds be fully recovered.
“INEC cannot properly carry out its constitutional and statutory responsibilities to conduct free and fair elections if it continues to fail to uphold the basic principles of transparency, accountability, and the rule of law,” SERAP said.
The group also cautioned that corruption allegations linked to the procurement of election materials pose a direct threat to Nigerians’ right to participate in elections that are “free, fair, transparent and credible.”
SERAP referenced the Auditor-General’s report, which alleged that INEC “irregularly paid” more than ₦5.3 billion to a contractor for the supply of smart card readers for the 2019 polls without approvals from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) or the Federal Executive Council, and without evidence that the items were supplied.
Although INEC reportedly claimed that the procurement was covered by national security exemptions, the Auditor-General dismissed the explanation as “alien to the Procurement Act” and maintained that a Certificate of No Objection from the BPP was required, raising concerns that the funds “may have been diverted.”
The audit report further alleged that INEC paid over ₦4.5 billion to six contractors for ballot papers and result sheets without documentary proof of supply, approvals or evidence of contractors’ eligibility, including valid tax and pension clearance certificates.
Additional concerns raised in the report include questionable payments exceeding ₦331 million made under “doubtful circumstances,” failure to deduct and remit more than ₦2.1 billion in stamp duties, non-retirement of over ₦630 million in cash advances issued to staff, and the award of contracts worth more than ₦41 billion for election materials without due process or proof of contractors’ competence.
The Auditor-General also queried the award of a ₦297 million contract for the supply of four Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles, noting that market surveys indicated the vehicles were priced at no more than ₦50 million each at the time, despite INEC’s claim that ₦74 million was paid per unit.
In several of the cases cited, the Auditor-General expressed concern that the funds involved “may have been diverted” and recommended that the sums be recovered and paid back into the national treasury.
