….Early campaigns fueling unlimited political spending, threaten 2027 Polls, INEC, Jega Warn
….It’s fuelling unlimited political spending – Yakubu
…..This is a democracy – Lawmaker
…..We’ll enforce all duly enacted laws – Police
By Omeiza Ajayi
ABUJA: Ahead of the 2027 general elections, stakeholders in Nigeria’s electoral circle on Wednesday converged on Abuja to deliberate on the challenges posed by premature election campaigns by politicians and political parties.
At a stakeholders roundtable organized by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC to examine the “Challenges of Premature Campaigns”, there were divergent opinions among stakeholders regarding the growing resort of politicians to early election campaigns.
Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, who delivered a keynote, raised fresh concerns over the growing trend of premature election campaigns in Nigeria, warning that the practice poses grave dangers to the integrity of the 2027 general elections if not urgently addressed.
At the roundtable which held at The Electoral Institute TEI in Abuja, Jega described early campaigns as one of the most serious threats to Nigeria’s democratic process.
The event brought together legislators, political party leaders, civil society organisations, media regulators and executives, as well as legal experts.
On his part, INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu expressed concerns over the rising trend of premature political campaigns across the country, warning that early electioneering threatens electoral integrity and fuels unregulated political spending.
Yakubu noted that Section 94(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 clearly prohibits campaigns from starting earlier than 150 days before polling day and ending 24 hours prior to the election. However, he lamented that political actors, including parties, candidates and third-party agents, have continued to flout this provision.
“Across the country, we have seen outdoor advertising, media campaigns, and even rallies promoting candidates long before INEC releases the official timetable. These actions undermine our ability to track campaign finance, as huge sums of money are being expended outside the legal framework,” Yakubu said.
‘Why we can’t act’
Yakubu cited a major legal gap in the Act, explaining that while mild sanctions of up to N500,000 exist for campaigns held within 24 hours before an election, there are no penalties for campaigns conducted earlier than the 150-day legal threshold.
“Here lies the challenge for the Commission in dealing with early campaigns by political parties, prospective candidates, and their supporters,” the INEC boss stressed.
Yakubu said the Commission convened the roundtable to allow stakeholders — including the National Assembly, political parties, the Nigerian Bar Association, the National Broadcasting Commission, the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, and civil society groups — to propose actionable recommendations.
He expressed confidence that the deliberations, alongside the keynote address delivered by former INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, would help shape reforms, especially as the National Assembly is currently reviewing the country’s electoral laws.
“Protecting our electoral process and consolidating our democracy is a multi-stakeholder task,” Yakubu emphasized.
The Commission said it hopes the outcome of the roundtable will strengthen Nigeria’s electoral framework ahead of the 2027 general election and curb the menace of premature campaigns.
Polls threatened
In his keynote, Jega said campaigns conducted outside the legally prescribed period confer unfair advantages on certain candidates, undermine the rule of law, heat up the polity and entrench a culture of impunity among political actors.
Jega said “matured democrats” are largely responsible for early campaigns and violations of election rules.
He also added that lawmakers are beneficiaries of early campaigns and are therefore most unlikely to make laws to impose stiffer penalties on premature campaigners.
“Premature election campaigns are undesirable aberrations in democratic elections. They create an uneven playing field, disrespect the law, and may even generate political tension and conflict,” he cautioned.
Jega, a professor of Political Science at Bayero University, Kano, noted that while the Electoral Act 2022 clearly stipulates that campaigns should begin 150 days before polling and end 24 hours to the election, politicians across parties — especially incumbents — routinely violate this provision.
He lamented the widespread use of billboards, posters, project commissioning and state resources for veiled political messaging, often disguised as third-party campaigns.
“These so-called support groups, with dubious financing, most likely breach campaign finance laws. Sadly, when incumbents engage in such acts and get away with them, a spiral of lawlessness is unleashed,” he said.
The former INEC boss stressed that premature campaigns weaken institutions, divert attention from governance, escalate political spending, and fuel ethno-religious polarization.
He cited examples from countries like Australia, Mexico, and the Philippines where clear sanctions — including fines and imprisonment — serve as deterrents, urging Nigeria to learn from such best practices.
To tackle the menace, Jega recommended clearer legal definitions of campaign offences with stiff penalties.
Other recommendations are holding candidates and their parties vicariously liable for premature campaigns by third parties; stronger monitoring of campaign finance by EFCC and ICPC; inclusion of third-party expenditures in official campaign finance audits; closer collaboration between INEC and State Electoral Commissions on enforcement; and, urgent establishment of an Electoral Offences Commission and Tribunal ahead of 2027.
He also called on civil society organizations to step up monitoring and advocacy, particularly against illicit political financing.
“In electoral jurisdictions like Nigeria, unscrupulous financing is easily used to prosecute premature campaigns. Civil society must strengthen alliances to monitor these excesses and help safeguard electoral integrity,” he emphasized.
Jega also stressed the need for intensified voter education and democratic enlightenment to build a political culture that respects the rule of law and nurtures credible elections.
Chairman of the Board of the Electoral Institute BEI, Prof. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, in his welcome address noted that premature political campaigns across the country undermine fairness, raise the cost of political competition, and erode public confidence in the electoral process.
Zuru noted that despite denials by political actors, evidence of early electioneering has become rampant across Nigeria, often taking subtle forms.
He cited the use of cultural festivals, religious gatherings, philanthropic gestures and cleverly worded billboards and branded vehicles to promote aspirants ahead of the legally permitted campaign window.
“More recently, social media influencers and content creators have become key players, flooding platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X with songs, skits, and hashtags that project particular aspirants many months before the law permits,” Zuru observed.
He recalled that Section 94(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 clearly stipulates that campaigns may only commence 150 days before polling day and must end 24 hours to the election. According to him, the law was designed to safeguard fairness, reduce political tension, and ensure a level playing field.
“Unfortunately, what we see today is an increasing determination to circumvent, stretch, and even undermine this law. Often, third-party actors such as associations, professional groups, religious groups or political support groups are used as convenient fronts for disguised early campaigning,” he lamented.
To curb the menace, the BEI chair called for clearer definitions of what constitutes premature campaigning in the digital age, stronger enforcement mechanisms, and sanctions on violators — whether political parties, aspirants, or their proxies.
He also stressed the need for collaboration with media organisations and social media platforms to moderate political content, while intensifying civic education to enlighten citizens, particularly young people, on the dangers of early campaigns.
“Democracy thrives on fairness, order, and respect for the rules. Campaigns conducted within the timeframe stipulated by law ensure a level playing field, reduce political tension, and enhance the credibility of elections,” he said.
Lawmaker disagrees
Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, Hon. Adebayo Balogun, said Nigeria’s election cycles now include off-season elections, meaning that different elections are conducted each year and hence politicians have to campaign regularly.
He said when opposition parties organise rallies to oppose policies of government like the fuel subsidy removal, such parties are also embarking on early campaigns, noting that there is a need to, in a democracy, be clear as to what constitutes a violation of the laws with regards to campaigns.
Raising posers for the stakeholders, Balogun said; “When the government is commissioning a project, or when a house member is commissioning a constituency project, he starts a campaign. Then, when the opposition organizes their own rallies to oppose any programme of the ruling government, it is also a campaign.
“So, we need to really check what we are actually referring to as campaign.The CSOs, every day, talk about policies of government, either for or against. The fuel subsidy debate is still on. It is either you support it or you are opposing it. Do we consider this as campaigns?
“Even the American president, up till today, he is still talking about his own government. So I think, like I said, this could not have come at a better time. I believe we should dedicate ourselves to this programme to search our minds. Should we still have any law restricting campaigns? Is that what is obtainable in other parts of the world? Because if we are not careful, we will still continue to take some of these programmes that we went through during the military regime, where you were given two days, one week to campaign, and after that period, if you were caught, you were jailed. We are in a democracy.The social media space cannot even be controlled and we have to be careful when we make some of these laws.
“Do we say you are campaigning, when you don’t know the people who are doing many posters on your behalf? You see these posters from the airport to wherever you can reach in Abuja today. I am sure, the president, if he sees some of these posters, he will be surprised. So who do you hold liable? Is it the party or the person? Because we must be careful so that we do not create a situation where the law will be used to haunt some people. So as I thank the chairman and his team for putting up this programme, I want at the end of the day, we should get a community discussion about whether the law should be there or not.
Police weigh in
On his part, the Inspector General of Police IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, raised two queries for stakeholders to deliberate on.
Represented by Abayomi Shogunle, the Commissioner of Police in charge of election monitoring, the IGP said; “Do we really need to continue to regulate in 2025 based on the fact that there is a need to bridge the gap between our leaders and the public? That is one.
“Two, every law that is made, we in enforcement have a duty to enforce, and then we need to ask ourselves again, what are the relevance of these laws to issue of society and development? Those are the issues we have to seriously look into.
“Having said that, the Nigeria Police Force will continue to enforce any law that has been duly passed by the Senate, House of Representatives and Houses of Assembly and we will continue to do everything needed to be done to ensure that campaigns go on peacefully”.
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