Ahead of the start of the campaigns for the presidential and National Assembly elections on August 19, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has stated that it will deploy technology-driven innovations to checkmate political parties from circumventing campaign funding limitations as contained in the 2026 Electoral Act.

This comes on the heels of claims by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that a bid to curb election spending was practically unattainable. But the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) said on Sunday that it would abide by the provisions of the 2026 Electoral Act on election spending, while the Labour Party (LP) claimed that its campaigns are devoid of big-pocket spenders and so was not at risk of violating the electoral law.

INEC, which spoke through the Deputy Director in charge of Publicity, Wilfred Osilama Ifogah, in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, said that it has already put structures in place to monitor party finances and campaign spending.

“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, carries out this responsibility. The department is the Election and Political Party Monitoring (EPM), he said.

He also expressed the readiness of the commission to enforce compliance with the funding cap as provided for in the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.

The National Commissioner and Chairman of the Election and Party Monitoring Committee (EPMC), Dr. Baba Bila, had earlier noted that the 2022 Regulations and Guidelines already cover campaign and campaign finance reporting.

Dr. Bila reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to strengthening transparency and accountability ahead of the 2027 General Election through technology-driven reforms.

“Political finance remains one of the most critical pillars of any democratic process. Public confidence in elections is often linked to the transparency and accountability associated with campaign financing, party expenditure and regulatory compliance,” he said.

According to him, PFRAS was developed to provide a technology-driven framework for the submission, monitoring and auditing of political finance reports by political parties.

He added that the future of election administration would increasingly depend on effective deployment of technology to improve transparency.

Section 98(1) of the Electoral Act provides that public campaigns by every political party shall begin 150 days before polling day and end 24 hours before the election.

Speaking further on measures to curb excessive use of campaign funds, the Deputy Director said that the EPM department would be responsible for tracking, monitoring and enforcing compliance.

What the Electoral Act says

The Electoral Act 2026 has also reviewed the spending limits for elections upward.

In February, Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, explained that Section 92(1-8) of the Act, titled ‘Limitation on Election Expenses’, raised the threshold for presidential election from N5 billion to N10 billion.

Other new limits are: governorship from N1 billion to N3 billion; Senate from N100 million to N500 million; House of Representatives from N70 million to N250 million; House of Assembly from N30 million to N100 million; Area Council from N30 million to N60 million; and Councillorship from N5 million to N10 million.

In March, INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, said at a three-day technical workshop supported by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) that the revised 2026 Regulations and Guidelines would introduce stricter benchmarks for financial transparency.

In May, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Lagos State, Prof. Ayobami Salami, said parties’ financial accountability would come under greater scrutiny as the 2027 elections approach. He spoke at a training for Heads of Department, EPM, from the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and leaders of political parties, on the Political Finance Reporting and Audit System (PFRAS), and the 2026 Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties.

Dr. Bila reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to strengthening transparency and accountability ahead of the 2027 General Election through technology-driven reforms.

APC will obey provisions of Electoral Act —Director of Publicity

The ruling All Progressives Congress has said it would ensure that all its candidates seeking elective offices in the forthcoming general elections stick to the provisions of the Electoral Act on financial cap.

Honourable Bala Ibrahim, Director of Publicity of the party, gave the assurance at the weekend in a telephone interview with Nigerian Tribune.

Checks revealed that by the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026, there exists a threshold for candidates for certain offices.

The new Act doubled the presidential spending ceiling, from ₦5 billion to ₦10 billion, while it equally raised the single-donor limit from ₦50 million to ₦500 million.

The Act further increased the financial cap for governorship from N1b to N3b, while senatorial candidates can spend N500m.

Ahead of the flag-off of campaigns, opposition parties have accused the governors on the platform of the All Progressives Congress under the platform of the Progressive Governors Forum of setting aside deductions from the monthly disbursement from their states’ Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) as campaign funds. They further alleged that such funds are being funneled to

Renewed Hope Ambassadors and the Renewed Hope Network, the campaign platforms for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The Director of Publicity, however, told Nigerian Tribune that as a party that respects the rule of law, it would not observe breaches of the provisions of the Electoral Act.

He said: “When it comes to financial prudence, the APC has demonstrated willingness to abide by the provisions of the law, in all its dealings.

” It has shown respect for the rule of law in the conduct of its affairs. It’s a progressive party, and as pacesetter, it can’t allow itself to be seen as wasteful in expenditures.

“The party will certainly abide by the rules and provisions as provided by INEC, which is the umpire. So, we will go by the provisions of the Electoral Act.”

Honourable Ibrahim noted that the incumbent national chairman of the party, Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, had worked with the Commission before and would do nothing to undermine the electoral body.

“We will do everything within the confines of INEC. It will be embarrassing to do anything outside the law.

“Our party has an institute, the Progressive Training Institute, which is tutoring members on how to be progressive in conduct,” he added.

How Politicians circumvent law on campaign spending – Investigations

Meanwhile, investigations by the Nigerian Tribune have revealed that politicians and their political parties often devise clever ways of spending more than the stipulated Electoral Act minimum during campaigns.

Sources told the newspaper that many parties and political actors often set up Non-Governmental Organisations to further their causes and that they do sponsor a lot of activities which may not be directly linked to the party or the candidate.

“By spreading out the activities across different fronts, politicians can somehow beat the financial regulations,” a party stakeholder said, adding that the National Assembly should also look at the prevailing economic circumstances before fixing the spending limits.

“What we also have to tell the National Assembly is to ensure that the funding limits are as realistic as possible,” the source stated.

It’s impossible to curb election spending —PDP

The Interim National Working Committee (INWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), however, described any attempts at curbing election spending as laughable.

According to the party, while the idea of pegging campaign expenses is welcome, “it is at the same time unattainable.”

The National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, who spoke on the party’s position, pointed out that the government itself, which is in charge of enforcement, is already in breach of the law.

Ememobong cited the huge costs placed on billboards by the various state governments as an example of how the law would fail on arrival.

He also noted that the cost of transportation, accommodation, logistics and all that a candidate would need to carry out campaigns had increased astronomically.

He said: “Curbing election expenditure is unattainable because even government institutions are making respecting the limit impossible.

“The cost of allowing campaign billboards is placed at ridiculously high amounts. Also, the candidates need to arrange their security, which isn’t cheap.

“Transportation and logistics aren’t cheap either. So, the practicality of that section of the law is questionable.”

Our campaign devoid of big-pocket spenders —LP

But the Labour Party (LP) said that it was not bothered about campaign funding or overshooting the limits because it had devised a strategy devoid of big-pocket spending.

“The idea of crossing the ceiling set by the Electoral Act doesn’t arise because we have a strategy in place to carefully manage the resources of our candidates and the party during campaigns,” the National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Ken Asogwa, told the Nigerian Tribune on Sunday.

He also said the leadership recruitment process in the party was in a way that those who “looted” public treasury did not come in.

“There is no place for treasury looters. They are the ones who would like to spend the money they have stolen to get whatever they want.

“In the Labour Party, we ensure strict management of resources, and, as such, complying with that section of the law will not be a problem for our candidates,” Asogwa added. (Nigerian Tribune)

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