Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, has lamented the electoral management body’s inability to sanction political parties, candidates, and their supporters who engage in premature campaigns ahead of elections.

Yakubu expressed this frustration during a roundtable organised by the Commission with the theme, “Challenges of Premature Political Campaign.”

According to Yakubu, while the Electoral Act prescribed a fine of N500,000 for campaigns conducted less than 24 hours to an election, there are no sanctions for campaigns carried out before the 150-day window stipulated by the 2022 Electoral Act.

He noted that Section 94(1) of the Act prohibits campaigns earlier than 150 days before polling and requires them to end 24 hours before election day, stressing that the intent is to prioritise governance over constant electioneering.

He added that despite these provisions, he observed that parties and candidates remain in perpetual campaign mode, often before INEC even releases an official timetable for elections.

“Around the country, we have seen outdoor advertising, media campaigns, and even rallies promoting various political parties and candidates.

“These actions and activities undermine the Commission’s ability to track campaign finance limits as politicians, prospective candidates, and third-party agents expend large amounts of money that cannot be effectively monitored before the official commencement of campaigns.

“Quite correctly, Nigerians expect INEC, as registrar and regulator of political parties, to act in the face of the brazen breach of the law on early campaign. However, the major challenge for the Commission is the law itself.

“Section 94(2) of the Electoral Act 2022 imposes sanctions, albeit mild (a maximum amount of N500,000 on conviction), on any political party or a person acting on its behalf who engages in campaigns 24 hours before polling day.

“However, there is no sanction whatsoever concerning breaches for campaigns earlier than 150 days to an election. Here lies the challenge for the Commission in dealing with early campaigns by political parties, prospective candidates, and their supporters.

“In a sense, the problem of early campaign in Nigeria is not new. The seeming inability of the Commission and other regulatory agencies to deal with the menace within the ambit of the existing electoral legal framework calls for deep reflection.

“It is in this context that the Commission considered it appropriate to convene this meeting in which legislators, leaders of political parties, civil society organisations, experts, practitioners, and regulators will brainstorm on the way forward.

“Similarly, as the National Assembly is currently reviewing our electoral laws, the Commission has also invited the leadership of both the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Electoral Matters.

“I am confident that they will give due consideration to actionable recommendations by experts, leaders of political parties, the President of the NBA, the BON, the NBC which regulates the broadcast media, and the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, ARCON, which regulates advertisement, including outdoor advertising.”

He stressed the Commission’s strong belief that protecting the nation’s electoral process and consolidating its democracy is a multi-stakeholder task.