Concerns over funding as political parties commence campaigns

•CSOs demand stricter campaign finance enforcement   •APC will fund its campaigns mainly from statutory dues of members —Senator  Basiru    •We aren’t under obligation to declare source of campaign funds —PDP   Our expenditure will be moderate —LP

Nigerians have continued to express concern over the source of funding of the political parties, eligible to field presidential candidates in the forthcoming general elections.

18 political parties are expected to field candidates.

Checks revealed that by provisions of Electoral Act 2026, National Assembly had  doubled the campaign spending limit for presidential candidates to N10 billion and increased the governorship ceiling to N3 billion.

For National Assembly seats in both chambers of parliament, Senatorial and House of Reps candidates will spend N500 million and N250 million respectively. The State Assembly candidate will spend N100 million.

While most of the political parties are warming up for the campaigns, they are, however silent on source of funding to drive the campaigns.

Last August, the ruling All Progressives Congress  unveiled President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 Presidential Campaign Council.

Nigerians have since expressed consternation over some of those listed as members,  with opposition figures alleging that public funds would be funneled to drive the campaigns of incumbent President and Presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The list includes, Zacch Adedeji, Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), appointed Deputy Director of Fundraising with  Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun as Director.

Also listed in the APC PCC are  Tanimu Yakubu, Director- General of the Budget Office of the Federation;

Supo Olusi, MD and Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Industry was appointed Deputy Director, Manufacturing and MSME Sector Mobilisation while Dele Alake, is the Director, Extractive  Industry Sector Mobilisation, an euphemism for fund generation for the campaign.

Section 91(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, gives INEC power to limit contributions to a political party or candidate and demand information on amount and source, while Section 91(2) provides that exceeding the limit attracts a fine of not more than N10 million and forfeiture of the amount donated for a political party, and a fine of five times the amount donated in excess for an individual.

National Secretary of the APC, Senator Ajibola Basiru who is also a member of the PCC told Nigerian Tribune that the party would fund its presidential campaigns majorly from monthly statutory dues of its members.

He declared 12.6 million as  the total number of duly  registered members of the APC.

Bashiru equally justified the inclusion of   the likes of Zach Adedeji and Olusi, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Industry into the APC PCC.

Also speaking with Nigerian Tribune, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Honourable Duro Meseko, dismissed insinuation that the ruling party would fund its campaigns from public funds.

He noted that aside the monthly dues paid by members, the party also generated huge money from sales of Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms, that preceded the conduct of primaries.

He said: “The opposition parties are just being mischievous and clawing at every available straw to justify their bizarre fake claims that the APC plans to fund its campaign with government funds. The APC is a progressive party that means well for the nation and would never dip its hands in the common till to fund its operations.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a very scrupulous leader  who has been promoting fiscal discipline and transparency since his assumption of office and has been applauded over and over again even by his fiercest critics. There is no way he would approve of such.

“As a political party, we have several ways of funding our activities ranging from membership dues and sales of forms among others.

“We can solidly fund all our activities from those sources as we have been doing and therefore has no reason to touch government funds.

“The opposition should do well to face their internal affairs, find ways to navigate the chaos beguiling their rank and file, and stop their campaign of calumny against the APC! “

Investigations showed that while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) planned to limit its budget for  the elections to the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026, it is however  unwilling to disclose the sources that would generate the funds.

The party argued that though the law specified the spelling limits for all the categories of elections, it did not compel political parties to disclose their sources of funding.

“As to how we intend to get funding  is a matter of strategy.

“The law does not prescribe how a political party must organise its political campaign or mobilise Nigerians. What the law requires is that, whatever strategy we adopt, our expenditure must remain within the prescribed limits. We are fully committed to that obligation”, the National Publicity Secretary, Honourable Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, told the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja.

Mohammed stated that the party could only promise to be law-abiding by not overshooting the spending limits.

“We will adhere to all electoral guidelines and comply with the limits prescribed for election expenditure. Whatever resources are available to us, we will spend them responsibly and within the limits established by law”, he added.

On its part, the Labour Party (LP) said its campaign strategy would be “conservative”, and did not require mega spendings.

“Our approach will be cost-effective, conservative, but lethal”, the National Publicity Secretary, Mr Ken Asogwa, told the Nigerian Tribune during an interview.

Speaking in separate interviews with Nigerian Tribune on how parties can raise and utilise funds within the law,  various CSOs,  called for transparency and enforcement.

Director, Centre for Democracy and Development, CDD-West Africa, Dr. Dauda Garuba, said legal provisions on campaign finance have historically been breached.

“Legal provisions on campaign finance have always been observed in breach than in compliance. In Nigeria, campaign finance ceiling has never worked in the past  and I do not see it working in the 2027 general elections for obvious reasons of difficulties in tracking sources and amounts involved,” he said.

The Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, while speaking, warned that campaign finance is becoming a major test of electoral integrity ahead of the 2027 elections.

He said that Nigerians have a right to know who is financing political parties and candidates, how much they are contributing and how the funds are being spent.

He said: “The danger is not only excessive spending but the infiltration of dirty, illicit and unexplained money into politics. Political parties must not become channels for laundering proceeds of corruption, diverting public resources or allowing wealthy private interests to purchase political influence.”

Rafsanjani said INEC must move beyond collecting financial returns after elections to monitoring finances throughout the campaign period, scrutinising suspicious donations, enforcing disclosure and referring violations to investigative agencies.

He noted that INEC’s 2026 regulations provide campaign-finance reporting requirements and set a N500 million threshold for individual, group or entity contributions to a political party or aspirant, alongside disclosure requirements.

“Political parties and candidates must maintain transparent and auditable campaign accounts, disclose major donors and expenditure, reject unlawful or anonymous contributions, and prevent supporters, committees, consultants or proxies from being used to evade statutory limits.

“Nigeria cannot condemn vote-buying on election day while ignoring dirty money flowing into politics before election day. INEC must enforce the law now, parties must disclose who funds them, and breaches must attract real sanctions. Without transparency and enforcement, campaign-finance limits will remain figures on paper rather than safeguards for credible elections,” he said.

Campaign spending limits arbitrary, enforcement weak

Also speaking, Convener of Good Governance Team, GGT Nigeria, Tunde Salman, called for reforms in campaign finance tracking and regulation ahead of the 2027 general election.

Salman, in an interview, said campaign costs include direct, indirect and third-party expenditures, but spending by individual support groups is currently not incorporated as part of candidates’ and political parties’ expenses.

“When we are ready to do serious campaign finance reform, these are the contexts in which we look at the whole picture,” he said.

He cited Ghana where civil society, including CDD Ghana, has developed draft reforms for campaign finance, noting that some countries peg election spending to GDP. He said spending about 5 per cent of GDP on elections is considered expensive, while 3 to 4 per cent or less than 1 per cent falls within median or low spending.

Salman distinguished cost of election from cost of campaign, saying cost of election incorporates spending by all actors including INEC, civil society observers and media, while campaign cost is narrower.

On sanctions, he said punishment under the Electoral Act is low. “N10 million or forfeiture….It only focuses on political parties and individuals who contravene the ceilings,” he said.

Speaking on how parties can raise funds within the law, Salman said parties can mobilise resources through membership dues, which should be sustainable income, but many rely on one or two money bags who hijack party structures using government or business connections.

He listed other legitimate sources to include in-kind donations such as volunteer PR services, special fundraising from stakeholders and sympathetic institutions, and corporate funding, though companies are often cautious about direct donations.

He noted that the law bars foreign donations, raising questions about contributions from Nigerians in diaspora.

On utilisation, Salman said parties spend on office rent, staff salaries, logistics for outdoor campaigns, media advertorials, opinion polls, and pre-election litigation.

He described election-day expenditure as critical, noting that parties must mobilise two to three agents to over 120,000 polling units nationwide, providing transport and feeding.

Salman said the N10 billion presidential spending limit is arbitrarily fixed and not based on indices such as number of voters, states, logistics, air transportation, TV appearances, newspaper advertorials, outdoor advertising and social media engagement.

He said the expanded campaign period, which began for presidential and National Assembly candidates on August 19, has increased costs

According to him, the major constraint has been INEC’s ability to enforce campaign finance laws, including record-keeping, submission of reports and publication.

He added that ceilings are often rejigged each election cycle to reflect inflation, moving from N5 billion to N10 billion for presidential election without addressing enforcement.

“If a serious tracking work is conducted, there may not be any of the major political parties and their candidates that will not be found wanting. Many candidates have spent even above these ceilings. They have been doing clandestine and open campaign even before the formal period,” he said.

Salman called for dedicated funding for campaign finance reform and more civil society focus on the area.

How INEC will enforce campaign funding cap

In a recent exclusive interview with Nigerian Tribune, the Independent National Electoral Commission, Deputy Director, Publicity, Wilfred Osilama Ifogah, declared that the Commission was determined to enforce compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act on campaign funding caps as political parties commence public campaigns.

He said: “We have a department saddled with the responsibility of tracking and monitoring political parties activities including finances and campaigns. The department guided by the Electoral Act and regulations carry out this responsibility. The Department is the Election and Political Party Monitoring (EPPM).” (Nigerian Tribune)