Electoral act raises Presidential campaign to N10 billion

Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has explained that the new regime reviewed the election spending limit under Section 92(1-8) of the Electoral Act upward, raising the spending threshold for presidential poll from N5 billion to N10 billion.

In a statement released by his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs on Sunday, Senator Bamidele said it also raised the spending threshold for governorship poll from N1 billion to N3 billion; from N100 million to ₦500 million for the Senate; from N70 million to N250 million for the House of Representatives; from N30 million to N100 million for the House of Assembly; from N30 million to N60 million for Area Council and from N5 million to N10 million for the councillorship poll.

Under Section 125(1-2), Bamidele explained how the new legislation stiffened measures against vote buying, impersonation, and result manipulation, recommending a two-year imprisonment for such offences or a fine ranging between N500,000 and N2 million or both upon conviction.

Section 74(1) of the Electoral Act, according to Bamidele, specifically mandates the REC to release the certified true copy of any document within 24 hours after payment has been made.

The failure to comply will attract an imprisonment of a minimum term of two years without an option of fine.

The National Assembly also highlighted the creation of a dedicated fund for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), mandatory electronic transmission of election results and creation of a digital membership register by all political parties, among others, as part of key reforms in the Electoral Act, 2026.

The new electoral governance framework, according to the parliament, equally mandates the INEC to deploy bimodal voters verification system (BVAS) for voters accreditation; recommend two-year jail imprisonment for the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) that withholds vital documents; establish an electronic register of voters and review upward campaign funds for different elective offices.

The National Assembly had harmonised different versions of the Electoral Bill 2026 produced by its two Chambers, especially with respect to Clause 60(3); passed the Bill into law and transmitted it to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for assent in order to avoid constitutional crisis that might arise in the preparation of the 2027 general election.

The president had subsequently signed the Electoral Bill 2026 into law after 24 hours of its enactment, thereby completing the two-year process of recrafting the new regime expected to shape the next elections positively.

Contrary to insinuations in some quarters, Bamidele explained how the National Assembly sustainably engaged the CSOs, INEC, Office of the Attorney-General of Federation (OAGF) and development partners, among others, for two consecutive years before the new electoral regime came into force.

He said the making of the new regime “is a collective work that involves nearly all critical stakeholders. The National Assembly worked with such different stakeholders as OAGF, CSOs, INEC and our development partners, among others, before we eventually completed the process.

“As we were making progress, the stakeholders too were making their input, and all the inputs were incorporated in the Act. In view of the time constraint we are facing now, I do not believe the Executive requires days or weeks to review it before assent since we all contributed to it. Its outcome is not a unilateral effort of the parliament, but of Nigerians at large.”

Consequently, Bamidele explained the potential of the new electoral governance framework “to obviously strengthen institutional independence; enhance transparency in election management; improve technological integration and reinforce accountability mechanisms in the country’s election management system.