Guidelines for the conduct of political rallies and campaigns, as well as election costs of parties, candidates, and aspirants, have been released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Political parties, civil society organizations, and other important stakeholders would have access to copies of the rules, INEC stated in a statement published on Thursday by Festus Okoye, its national commissioner.
Political parties “must issue in writing a notice to the Commissioner of Police of the State or the Federal Capital Territory specifying the exact venue and time of the rally or procession and pledging peaceful conduct and control against violence or public nuisance,” as stated in the regulations for rallies and campaigns.
Political Parties must notify the Commission of the schedule of their campaigns, including the date, time, location, agenda, list of members of the organizing committee, and police approval within the campaign’s jurisdiction, in writing and electronically through a designated portal at least 10 days prior to the start of their campaigns.
The guidelines also specify that parties’ and candidates’ campaigns must be grounded in their charters and platform statements, and they must adhere to any rules established by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and COVID-19 security guidelines.
Regarding party finances, INEC said that political parties were required to report and transfer any monies or other assets received from outside of Nigeria to the commission within 21 days of receipt.
The highest sum of cash or other assets that one person, a group of people, or an organization may give to a political party or candidate for office is N50,000,000.
Unless it identifies and discloses the source of the gift to the Commission, a Political Party shall not receive any monetary or other contribution that is greater than N50,000,000.
“Within six months after an election, each Political Party that took part must submit an audited account of its election costs to the site approved by the Commission. The reporting period will start 360 days before election day and continue through that date.
Within three months following the declaration of the election results, “Every Political Party sponsoring the election of a candidate should provide to the site authorized by the Commission a report of the donations made to it by persons and businesses. The report must include the donor(s)’ names, residences, occupations, and the amount.
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