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Nigeria’s Deputy
Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, on Monday said that the proposed
amount for the new voter register by the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) is too high.

Mr Ekeweremadu,
while speaking to correspondents at the presidential wing of the
Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA), Lagos, said that our country is faced
with numerous challenges that require financial attention and that our
government should be working out how to save funds.

“Well, that is his
(Jega, INEC Chairman’s) estimate, not my estimate. We should be talking
about how to save money from that figure and focus on other areas,” he
said.

Mr Ekweremadu added
that the commission needs to review the amount in the request,
stressing that the number of polling booths to be used during the 2011
general elections is enormous.

“I think for the
purpose of the election, it is reasonable, but a country such as here
where we have so much poverty, it is on the high side. He (Jega) may
have to adjust it to be more realistic, for we believe there are other
ways we can adjust this.

“That figure is
much, because he is looking at one data capturing machine per polling
booth and we have 120,000 of such (polling booths), so if there is any
way we can deal with it in such a way that there could be like two
polling booths per DCM, I’m sure it’s going to reduce the figure,” he
said.

Last week, Attahiru
Jega, chairman of the commission, disclosed that the INEC will need N84
billion to efficiently carry out credible general elections in our
country come 2011.

The Senator,
however, assured that the House of Assembly will reach an agreement
with the commission on how to professionally deal with the development.

“We will work it out with him but he is going to get all the support he needs from us,” he said.

State creation

Speaking on the
agitation for the increase in the number of states in Nigeria, Mr
Ekweremadu said that the Senate has to go through different procedures
before coming out with an agreed figure.

“I don’t have the
figures here and this is not the military regime where you just stay
one place and say you are creating states; because we have to go
through a number of procedures laid down in section 8 of the
constitution,” he said.

The Deputy Senate President said that the House is to establish a committee that will look into the issue of state creation.

“We are going to set up a small committee within our small
committee, to look at all the requests and advice us in terms of those
that meet the requirements, those that are viable and those that meet
the ends of justice,” he said. “Then we will be able to make further
recommendations to the National Assembly.”