Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will not fund party primaries, whether direct or indirect.

Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Muktar Batera, disclosed this to journalists after a meeting with Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of INEC, on Thursday in Abuja.

According to Batera, the committee discussed INEC budget and the cost implications of direct primaries on the Commission.

He stated that INEC’s role in the process of primaries is minimal because political parties are in charge of primaries.

“In our discussions with the INEC Chairman, we wanted to know his requirements for the 2023 elections as well as the cost of direct or indirect primaries.

“On the primaries, when we discussed with him, he specifically told us the role of INEC in direct or indirect primaries which he said is just minimal. He said the responsibility lies with all the political parties. He said conducting primaries is the role of political parties and not INEC.

“For direct primaries, what the INEC Chairman told us is that only the political parties have the responsibility on primaries and the funding of the primaries,” he said.

Yakubu, while speaking with journalists after the meeting, said the Commission is yet to give an estimate for the conduct of primaries. He also refused to divulge the content of his letter to President Muhammadu Buhari.

As reported earlier, Buhari wrote a letter to INEC, requesting counsel on the controversial direct primaries.

The House had resolved that the Committees on Appropriations and Communications to interface with Yakubu on the cost of direct primaries.

The resolution was a sequel to a motion moved last week by Leke Abejide.

PT