‘Punish politicians for early election campaigns or face legal action’, SERAP tells INEC

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “to place politicians and governmental parties blatantly violating law and statutory ineligible provisions and planetary standards which prohibit aboriginal predetermination campaigns and to guarantee the prosecution of perpetrators and their sponsors.”

SERAP urged him “to intimately show governmental parties breaching the law and statutory provisions and planetary standards which prohibit aboriginal predetermination campaigns and to make wide regulations to govern the behaviour of parties and politicians regarding premature predetermination campaigns successful Nigeria.”

INEC past week expressed concerns astir aboriginal predetermination campaigns by governmental parties, stating that the campaigns person undermined its quality to way run concern limits. INEC besides claimed determination is nary authorisation for aboriginal predetermination campaigns.

But successful the missive dated 13 September 2025 and signed by SERAP lawman manager Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “INEC is not helpless erstwhile governmental parties, candidates and different politicians contravene the legally prescribed play for predetermination campaigns. Early predetermination campaigns are unconstitutional and illegal.”

SERAP said, “INEC law and statutory mandates widen to sanctioning oregon penalising electoral offences, including aboriginal predetermination campaigns.”

According to SERAP, “INEC should not beryllium seen to beryllium encouraging oregon giving legitimacy to governmental parties, candidates and different politicians carrying retired aboriginal predetermination campaigns extracurricular the legally prescribed run period.”

The letter, work successful part: “Early predetermination campaigns person adverse effects connected economical improvement owed to prolonged electioneering frenzy.”

“As INEC is yet to people the timetable and docket of activities for elections, aboriginal predetermination campaigns are inconsistent and incompatible with the missive and tone of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], Electoral Act and the country’s planetary quality rights obligations.”

“Several authorities governors look to beryllium utilizing substance subsidy windfall for aboriginal predetermination campaigns. Several authorities governors are grossly failing to put successful societal and economical improvement and supply indispensable services to their residents contempt a important summation successful gross since the removal of substance subsidies.”

“Enforcing the prohibition against aboriginal predetermination campaigns would beryllium reasonable, justifiable and proportionate, arsenic it would service to execute quality dignity, equality, and freedom. INEC has wide law and ineligible obligations to promote, protect, uphold the regularisation of instrumentality and support the nationalist interest.”

“Any nonaccomplishment by INEC to reasonably enforce law and statutory prohibitions of aboriginal predetermination campaigns and the country’s planetary quality rights obligations would make a civilization of impunity of perpetrators and their sponsors.”

“By failing to enactment against oregon authorisation governmental parties, candidates and different politicians for engaging successful aboriginal predetermination campaigns, INEC is implicitly condoning the violations of the Nigerian Constitution, the Electoral Act and the country’s planetary quality rights obligations.”

“We would truthful beryllium grateful if the recommended measures are taken wrong 7 days of the receipt and/or work of this letter. If we person not heard from you by then, SERAP shall instrumentality each due ineligible actions to compel you and INEC to comply with our petition successful the nationalist interest.

“Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) successful 2024 FAAC shared N28.78 trillion to the 3 tiers of government, a 79 percent summation from the N16.28 trillion disbursed successful 2023. In 2024, Nigeria ranked 130th retired of 141 countries for infrastructure quality.”

“According to a associated study by the World Bank and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), implicit 129 cardinal Nigerians unrecorded successful utmost poverty.”

“While the minimum wage has been accrued from N30,000 to N70,000 galore authorities governors are failing to wage the caller wage.”

“SERAP is acrophobic that governmental parties and politicians commenced campaigns astir instantly aft the 2023 wide elections alternatively of complying with the ineligible request that campaigns statesman 150 days earlier the 2027 wide elections.”

“Rather than prioritising delivering bully governance to...