By Our Correspondent
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the Federal High Court in Abuja, accusing the electoral umpire of sitting on information Nigerians need to know: how much money can legally flow into political campaigns ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2114/2026 and filed last week, wants the court to compel INEC to come clean on whether it has used its powers under Section 91 of the Electoral Act 2026 to set limits on political contributions, and if it has, to publish those limits for all to see. SERAP also wants the commission to reveal the systems it has put in place to monitor, investigate and enforce compliance with rules on political donations and campaign spending.
Beyond that, the group is pushing the court to order INEC to release political parties’ most recent financial statements, audited accounts, sources of funding, assets, liabilities and election expenditure returns for the 2023 to 2025 period. It also wants the commission to disclose the examination and audit reports required by law, including those submitted to the National Assembly, along with details of any enforcement action taken against parties or individuals over alleged breaches of political finance rules.
According to SERAP, opening up this information would give voters, journalists and civil society groups the tools to properly scrutinise political financing in the run-up to 2027. The organisation also wants INEC to spell out how it intends to track political contributions and campaign spending once the electoral season is in full swing, including the various forms political financing can take.
Under INEC’s 2026 Regulations and Guidelines for Political Parties, an individual, group or entity is currently permitted to donate up to ₦500 million to a political party or aspirant in an election. The regulations further stipulate that no party should accept a donation above that threshold without identifying and disclosing the source to the commission.
No date has yet been fixed for the hearing of the suit.
