- Certified copies of the entire National Register of Voters
- The statutory ₦250 rate resulted in the exact ₦1,505,901,750 fee
- The clarification follows public criticism questioning the fairness of the cost
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has offered a clear explanation for the massive ₦1.5 billion fee it charged for fulfilling a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
Eko Hot Blog gathered that the request, submitted by Messrs V.C. Ottaokpukpu & Associates, asked for certified copies of the entire National Register of Voters and all polling unit details across Nigeria.
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INEC, through its Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, stated that the fee aligns strictly with the FOI Act 2011, which permits public institutions to charge the actual cost of document duplication and transcription.
The commission based its calculation on Section 15 of the Electoral Act 2022, which fixes the charge for Certified True Copies at ₦250 per page.
INEC explained the enormous page count: the Register covers 93,469,008 registered voters, requiring 6,018,661 pages. Records for the 176,848 polling units required an additional 4,946 pages, totaling 6,023,607 pages. Multiplying this huge volume by the statutory ₦250 rate resulted in the exact ₦1,505,901,750 fee.
INEC emphasized that the amount covers only the physical printing and certification costs, confirming its approval for the release of the data upon payment through Remita.
The clarification follows public criticism questioning the fairness of the cost.
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