House Raises Campaign Spending Limits for Elective Offices

The House of Representatives has approved an amendment that significantly increases the limits on campaign spending for candidates seeking elective office across the country.

Under the revised framework, presidential candidates will now be allowed to spend up to ₦10 billion on their campaigns, up from the previous limit of ₦5 billion. For governorship candidates, the ceiling was raised from ₦1 billion to ₦3 billion.

Senatorial candidates will see their spending limit increase fivefold, from ₦100 million to ₦500 million. In comparison, candidates for the House of Representatives can now spend up to ₦250 million, compared to the earlier ₦70 million cap.

At the state level, the approved amendment raises the spending limit for State House of Assembly candidates from ₦30 million to ₦100 million. The same increase applies to Local Government chairmanship candidates, whose allowable expenditure has been raised from ₦30 million to ₦100 million.

For councillorship positions, the House approved an increase in campaign spending from ₦5 million to ₦10 million.

In addition, the amendment sets a new cap on political donations, stipulating that no individual or entity may donate more than ₦500 million to any candidate.