Bukola Idowu, Executive Director, Kimpact Development Initiative, has kicked against the N10 billion spending mark for the presidential election campaign, insisting it gives room for corruption.
He noted that the president in four years does not earn up to N10 billion as his salary, saying this does not add up.
He said that by making this law, the National Assembly has made elections purely commercial.
“That has been the narrative. That is what the lawmakers were saying that, look, this was a provision from the 2022 Electoral Act and then when you look at the inflation rate, then that 5 billion is not justifiable and justiciable,” he said on Arise News..
“But the question we keep asking them, and we have made this presentation to them several times, and that is to tell you that, look, their decision is not being backed by fact, statistics or data.
“How did you arrive at 3 billion for Governors? Because look at it this way, Kano has about 44 local government areas. Bayelsa has eight local government areas. So if you are campaigning in Bayelsa, you are going to campaign with 3 billion. Someone in Lagos is going to campaign with 3 billion. What data are you using?
“So at the end of the day, you now say the President is going to be 10 billion. So even the governor is going to go round like about 30 local governments with 3 billion. So how did you arrive at 10 billion for the President?
“So it doesn’t really make any statistical sense. It is not backed by law. The president in four years does not earn up to this amount in salary,” he stated.
