The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publicly account for N55.9 billion allegedly unaccounted for in the procurement of election materials for the 2019 general elections.

The request forms part of a lawsuit filed last Friday and anchored on findings contained in the Auditor-General of the Federation’s report published on 9 September 2025, which raised concerns over payments made by INEC for election-related procurements.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/38/2026, SERAP is seeking “an order of mandamus to direct and compel INEC to account for the missing or diverted ₦55.9 billion meant to buy smart card readers, ballot papers, and other election materials for the 2019 general elections”.

The organisation is also asking the court to order INEC to disclose details of contractors allegedly paid the funds. According to SERAP, this includes “the names of all contractors paid the ₦55.9 billion for the procurement of smart card readers, ballot papers, result sheets, and other election materials for the 2019 general elections, including the names of their directors and shareholders”.

SERAP said the action was necessary in light of the Auditor-General’s findings, which questioned the propriety of several payments made by INEC and raised concerns that some of the funds “may have been diverted”.

In court documents, SERAP argued that INEC’s ability to conduct credible elections depends on strict adherence to transparency and accountability standards. It stated 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”.

The group further argued that unresolved allegations of financial impropriety could undermine future electoral processes, adding that “INEC cannot ensure impartial administration of future elections if these allegations are not satisfactorily addressed, perpetrators including the contractors involved are not prosecuted and the proceeds of corruption are not fully recovered”.

SERAP’s lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare, Kehinde Oyewumi and Andrew Nwankwo, cited portions of the Auditor-General’s report, which alleged that INEC “irregularly paid” over N5.3 billion to a contractor for the supply of smart card readers for the 2019 elections without approvals from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Federal Executive Council.

The report noted that the payment was “made without any document” and that there was “no evidence of supplies to the commission”.
INEC was quoted in the report as claiming that approval was unnecessary because the procurement fell under national security exemptions, a justification the Auditor-General described as “alien to the Procurement Act”, insisting that INEC ought to have obtained a Certificate of No Objection from the BPP.

The Auditor-General also raised concerns over payments of more than N4.5 billion to six contractors for ballot papers and result sheets, stating that there was “no documentary evidence of supply”, as well as no proof of advertisements, bid evaluations or contractors’ eligibility.

Further queries were raised over N331 million paid to contractors under what the report described as “doubtful circumstances”, including cases where payment receipts predated contract awards. The report said INEC’s explanations that the actions were necessary to avoid a constitutional crisis during the elections were “unsatisfactory”.

Other issues highlighted included INEC’s failure to deduct over N2.1 billion in stamp duties from contractors, unretired cash advances of over N630 million granted to staff, and contracts worth more than N41 billion for printing election materials allegedly awarded without due process.

The report also queried the award of a contract for the supply of four Toyota Land Cruisers at a cost of over N297 million, noting that market surveys indicated significantly lower prices at the time.

SERAP said these allegations pointed to “a grave violation of the public trust, the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and international anticorruption standards”, and stressed that corruption in election procurement “directly undermine Nigerians’ right to participate in elections that are free, fair, transparent, and credible”.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the case.