Parties must disclose sources of campaign funds – INEC

Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission has said the nation’s registered political parties must disclose the sources of their campaign funds and keep to the rules guiding campaign financing and spending limits.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this in an interview with Trust TV.

According to him, there are also limits for what individuals can contribute to campaign financing, as individuals can only make contributions subject to certain limits.

“The party also has its own limitations as to what it can spend including where the money is coming from and the responsibility for full disclosure for transparency. The limits are in the law actually.

“These are in the law and they must be obeyed and respected,” Yakubu said.

The INEC Chairman reiterated that parties cannot receive financial contributions from outside the country and that if there is any money received by any party from outside the country, such funds must be transferred to the commission.

On the security of its online and electronics systems, Yakubu assured that the commission would invest heavily on cybersecurity, adding that “Any organisation that operates an online platform is susceptible to hacking but our defense system is very robust. But I am sure you don’t expect me on national and international television to say exactly how we are going to defend our system but we are satisfied that our defence system are robust.”

Speaking on the invalid registrants in the recently concluded Continuous Voter Registrations, Yakubu said the commission after every registration cleans up the data and that in cleaning up the data, it removes those who are not eligible to be registered under the law.