- The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has instituted a lawsuit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the Federal High Court in Abuja over an alleged failure to probe illicit political funding.
- The suit follows serious allegations that All Progressives Congress (APC) governors are illegally diverting monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) funds into a dedicated pool to sponsor President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign.
- SERAP is seeking an order of mandamus to force INEC to enforce Section 91 of the Electoral Act, which mandates full public disclosure of political donations and levies heavy fines and asset forfeitures on violators.
The integrity of Nigeria’s upcoming political cycle faces deep legal scrutiny as the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) filed a lawsuit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Eko Hot Blog reports that the legal action is a direct response to the electoral umpire’s alleged failure to investigate severe claims that state governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have systematically diverted approximately ₦800 billion from public funds for political campaign purposes.
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Filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja under suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1426/2026, the civil advocacy group is seeking to legally compel a comprehensive regulatory audit into how the ruling party is pooling its financial capital.
According to a formal public brief issued by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization based its application on documented tracking data and media exposes detailing a highly structured funding channel.
The lawsuit specifically alleges that APC governors are executing unauthorized monthly deductions from their statutory Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations, redirecting billions of public funds directly into a centralized campaign vault set aside to finance President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 re-election machinery.
To back its claims, the body submitted several items of evidence to the court, including an analytical publication by prominent columnist Festus Adedayo, which comprehensively detailed the alleged ₦800 billion campaign slush fund.
In the dynamic court filings managed by human rights lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Kehinde Oyewumi, SERAP is seeking an explicit order of mandamus to compel INEC to use its statutory monitoring capabilities.
The applicant demands that the electoral commission request a complete financial disclosure from all sitting APC governors and the central party leadership regarding the exact volume of contributions made to any campaign-related fund, alongside verifiable lists of all corporate or individual donors and proof of the lawful origin of such funds.
Furthermore, the suit demands an immediate, independent review of political party financing frameworks across all registered political organizations currently participating in the current political cycle.
The legal arguments presented in the suit emphasize that under Section 91 of the Electoral Act, INEC, led by its Chairman, Josiah Amupitan, possesses clear, non-negotiable powers to set strict statutory limits on political contributions and strictly punish violations.
The Act states that any political party found guilty of exceeding donation parameters faces a steep corporate fine of up to ₦10 million, along with the complete forfeiture of all excess financial assets received.
For individual contributors or state actors operating outside the law, the Electoral Act prescribes an immediate financial penalty equivalent to five times the total value of the excess funding contributed.
SERAP maintained that when serious allegations emerge involving the possible exploitation of state-derived fiscal resources to bankroll partisan political activities, INEC has a constitutional obligation to protect public trust.
The watchdog argued that allowing opaque campaign funding structures to operate without strict regulatory pushback completely undermines public confidence in the democratic ecosystem and violates the constitutional rights of Nigerian citizens to participate in an unbiased, transparent electoral process.
As of the time of filing this report, the Federal High Court in Abuja has not yet assigned a definitive date for the preliminary hearing of the suit.
