The House of Representatives has thrown open the campaign spending gates, approving a massive increase in election expenditure limits for candidates seeking public office ahead of the 2027 general elections.
At Thursday’s plenary, lawmakers doubled the campaign spending ceiling for presidential candidates from ₦5 billion to ₦10 billion during a clause-by-clause consideration of proposed amendments to the Electoral Act 2022.
The shake-up did not stop at the presidency. Governorship candidates can now spend up to ₦3 billion, up from ₦1 billion, while senatorial candidates saw their limit jump from ₦100 million to ₦500 million.
For House of Representatives hopefuls, the spending cap was reviewed sharply upward from ₦70 million to ₦250 million.
At the state level, candidates contesting seats in the Houses of Assembly will now be allowed to spend as much as ₦100 million, compared to the previous ₦30 million ceiling.
Local government elections also got a financial boost. Chairmanship candidates can now spend up to ₦100 million, up from ₦30 million, while councillorship candidates’ limits were raised from ₦5 million to ₦10 million.
In another major adjustment, the House approved a tenfold increase in the maximum donation an individual or organisation can make to a candidate, raising it from ₦50 million to ₦500 million.
The changes are part of broader legislative efforts to rejig Nigeria’s electoral framework ahead of the 2027 polls.
Just a day earlier, the House approved a separate amendment mandating real-time transmission of election results.
The proposed amendments to the Electoral Act 2022 will only become law after approval by the Senate and assent by the President.
