INEC Sets Up Joint Team To Track Illegal Campaign Spending
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has established a joint financial monitoring mechanism with anti-graft and financial intelligence agencies to track illegal campaign spending and vote-buying ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at a strategic workshop for media executives organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in collaboration with the commission.
Amupitan said the commission was working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to monitor campaign financing and identify suspicious expenditure.
He said the joint mechanism would track illegal campaign expenditure, while surveillance would also be strengthened around polling units to detect attempts to induce voters with cash or other material benefits.
The INEC chairman warned political parties, candidates and their agents that violations of the Electoral Act 2026 would attract arrest and prosecution.
He said the commission was determined to ensure that financial power did not determine the outcome of elections, stressing that voters should be allowed to make their choices freely.
“Elections must be decided by the conviction of the voter, not the depth of a candidate’s pocket,” Amupitan said.
The commission’s renewed focus on campaign finance comes as political parties intensify preparations for the 2027 elections and concerns persist over vote-buying and the influence of money on electoral contests.
Amupitan also warned political actors against violence, intimidation and inflammatory rhetoric, saying the commission would sanction parties and candidates whose activities threatened the peaceful conduct of the elections.
He said the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) had activated an early-warning mechanism to monitor political violence, thuggery and dangerous campaign rhetoric.
According to him, parties or candidates found inciting violence, disrupting opponents’ rallies or deploying armed thugs would face sanctions and prosecution.
Beyond campaign finance and security, Amupitan disclosed that Nigeria’s National Register of Voters had risen to more than 103 million following the completion of the three-phase Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise and the final biometric cleanup.
He said the three phases produced 10,772,421 new registrations, subject to the relevant verification process.
The first phase recorded 2,611,266 registrations between August 25 and December 10, 2025, while the second phase produced 4,121,835 registrations between January 5 and April 17, 2026.
The third phase, conducted between May 11 and July 26, 2026, recorded 3,867,997 new registrations.
Amupitan said the commission had completed the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) cleanup of the register after the preliminary register was displayed for claims and objections.
He also announced that nationwide collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would commence on Friday, October 9, with newly produced cards distributed to Local Government Area collection centres.
The commission, he added, had introduced printable PVC technology to reduce delays in the production and collection of voters’ cards.
On election technology, Amupitan disclosed that INEC had acquired 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines ahead of the 2027 polls.
He said the commission had also upgraded existing electoral technology and introduced an enhanced eEC8A system designed to digitise and authenticate polling-unit results before their upload to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
The INEC chairman said the commission was deliberately improving existing systems rather than introducing untested technologies shortly before the elections.
He added that the commission was working with technology partners on artificial intelligence-driven systems to detect anomalies in database traffic and strengthen the cybersecurity of its electoral platforms.
Amupitan said INEC had completed eight of the 14 major statutory activities contained in its timetable for the 2027 elections.
He said the commission was also drawing lessons from recent off-cycle elections to improve its logistics, personnel and technology ahead of the January 16, 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections.
The INEC chairman urged the media to play a greater role in checking misinformation, deepfakes and manipulated campaign materials capable of undermining public confidence in the electoral process.
He said false information could suppress voter turnout, create panic and undermine otherwise credible elections.
Earlier, President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Eze Anaba, called for a credible and transparent electoral process in which voters, rather than the courts, determine electoral outcomes.
He said elections were not merely about casting ballots but also about building citizens’ confidence that their votes would count and that institutions responsible for conducting elections would operate fairly and professionally.
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