INEC denies spending $75m on printing of 2015 presidential ballot papers

Abuja – Ahead of the 2015 polls, INEC says its decision to print some ballot papers abroad is to protect the integrity of the electoral process. The Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr Kayode Idowu, made this known in an interview on Wednesday in Abuja
. Idowu also denied the allegation that the commission spent 75 million dollars to print the 2015 presidential ballot papers in Europe, saying “I am not aware of that.’’ He, however, said it was true that some of the ballot papers for the 2015 polls were being printed locally while others were being done outside the country. “This is a country where some elections are extremely contentious.
“ Some elections are so contentious that however it goes, people will complain from partisan perspective and the commission is mindful of that. “ I can assure you that a large portion of the materials we are using, both sensitive and non-sensitive, are also being printed locally and some part of it are being printed abroad. “They are printed abroad in the interest of the country, for the integrity of the election and the acceptability of the procedure. “
All these have been taken into consideration,’’ he said. Idowu also said that INEC took into consideration the economic situation of the country, security and capacity in taking decisions on the printing of the ballot papers. “We are talking of about five elections and for each of the election, we are talking of between 70 and 75 million ballot papers