Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to urgently clarify whether it has exercised its statutory powers to prescribe campaign contribution limits under the Electoral Act.
In a freedom of information request addressed to the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, SERAP demanded full public disclosure of any applicable financial ceilings alongside the operational mechanisms established to monitor compliance ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The advocacy group stressed that publishing these frameworks is crucial to preventing the circumvention of statutory limits through dark money, third-party spending, digital social media financing, and covert intermediaries.
“INEC’s constitutional responsibility is not simply to receive financial statements from political parties,” SERAP stated. “The Constitution requires the Commission to examine political-party finances, conduct necessary investigations and report to the National Assembly.”
The organization highlighted that the increasing monetization of elections poses a severe threat to democratic integrity, noting that voters and civil society cannot scrutinize campaign spending without clear administrative guidelines and enforcement protocols.
“Greater transparency in political financing is essential to ensuring that the 2027 elections are conducted on a level playing field,” SERAP added.
“Voters, journalists and civil-society organisations cannot effectively scrutinise political financing if the applicable limits are not easily accessible or if there is no publicly known mechanism for monitoring compliance.”