The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has refused to publicise the audited reports of political parties’ campaign funds, which clearly shows that the commission is shielding parties in the country.
Three years since the last general elections and exactly 110 days to the 2023 general election, the Commission is yet to publish the expenditures of political parties. This is clearly in defiance of the new Electoral Act.
INEC had earlier established that the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) and the major opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), spent at least three times more than what the law permitted them in the last general election.
INEC, through tracking and monitoring, established that the APC spent N4.6 billion (N4,620,144,784) while the PDP spent N3.3 billion (N3,282,206,642) on the last presidential election on billboards, print media advertisements, electronic media advertisements, and coverage (musical performances) during the polls.
However, they did not submit their financial reports as required by law.
During the 2019 general election, the maximum limit of campaign spending was N1 billion.
But despite breaching of section 93 of the electoral act, neither the APC nor the PDP has paid the expected fines nor forfeited the excess of N3.6 and N2.2 billion they respectively incurred during the 2019 presidential election.
Before the amendment of the New Electoral Act, section 93 of Nigeria’s electoral law provided that “a political party sponsoring the election of a candidate shall, within three months of the announcement of the results of the election, file a report of the contributions made by individuals and entities to (INEC).”
Section 89 (3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, stipulates that election expenses of a political party shall be submitted to the Commission in a separate audited return within six months after the election and such return shall be signed by the political party’s auditors and countersigned by the chairman of the party, supported by a sworn affidavit by the signatories as to the correctness of its contents.
“(4) A political party which contravenes subsection (3) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of N1,000,000 and in the case of failure to submit an accurate audited return within the stipulated period, the court may impose a maximum penalty of N200,000.00 per day on any party for the period after the return was due until it is submitted to the Commission,” it further stated.
LEADERSHIP reports that political parties are expected by law to submit three financial reports to INEC – the election contributions report, election expenses report, and annual report.
Section 86 of the Electoral Act mandates every political party to submit its detailed annual statement of account to the commission, which would be audited by the commission and subsequently published in two national newspapers and the commission’s website.
Section 86 (2) states, “Any official of the political party who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable to a fine of N1,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of six months or both. (3) A political party shall grant to any officer authorised in writing by the commission access to examine the records and audited accounts kept by the political party in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the political party shall give to the officer all such information as may be requested in relation to all contributions received by or on behalf of the party.
“(4) The commission shall publish the report on such examinations and audit in two national newspapers and the commission’s website within 30 days of receipt of the results.”
Similarly, section 15, under Part I of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) mandates the commission to “monitor the organisation and operation of the political parties, including their finances,” and “arrange for the annual examination and auditing of the funds and accounts of political parties, and publish a report on such examination and audit for public information.”
Also, Section 225 (1) states, “Every political party shall, at such times and in such a manner as the INEC, publish a statement of its assets and liabilities.” The subsection (2) adds, “Every political party shall submit to INEC a detailed annual statement and analysis of its sources of funds and other assets together with a similar statement of its expenditure in such form as the Commission may require.”
More so, Section 89 (3) of the new Electoral Act says “Election expenses of a political party shall be submitted to the Commission in a separate audited return within six months after the election.”
It is clear that during electioneering periods, parties attract funds for their operations and activities through contributions from members and supporters, and donations from corporate organisations, however, they are mandated to submit to INEC their audited financial reports, capturing revenue inflows and outflows after a general election and at specific periods in the year.
Section 90 (4) of the Act mandates political parties sponsoring the election of candidates to, within three months after the announcement of the results of the election, file a report of the contributions made by individuals and entities to the Commission.
The electoral body had earlier said only 34 political parties out of the 91 registered parties that participated in the 2019 elections had submitted their audit reports.
Among the 34, however, the Commission also said only nine met the full requirements of submitting audit reports accompanied by an affidavit.
The commission also claimed that it tracked expenditures for general elections.
“In the last report we did, we had some figures from the presidential election of the two major parties. We remember that then, the maximum limit was N1bn and what we had based on our tracking across the country was N4.6 billion and N3.3 billion.
From the foregoing, it is clear that virtually all the political parties that participated in these elections and their presidential, governorship and federal and state legislative candidates had breached the laws on campaign and election spending.
When quizzed, the director, Election and Party Monitoring Department, INEC, Aminu Idris, said the ruling APC and the major opposition PDP were yet to submit the report of the expenses they incurred during the 2019 general elections.
He disclosed this at a two-day capacity-building workshop for INEC Press Corps in Lagos recently, adding that the major parties were not among the 34 political parties that submitted reports for the 2019 election.
During the general election, he said the Commission tracked election expenses and had a report of that.
According to him, “During the 2019 general election, we tracked election expenses and we have a report of that. In 2023, we will go through this process. Last week, we trained auditors and financial secretaries of political parties on the forms for reporting election expenses.
“The commission has designed forms to assist political parties in reporting election expenses. One of the forms is EC 16D which records contributions and incomes for political parties and candidates. Another one is EC 16C which records expenditures. It assists political parties to record as required by law.”
He said the parties are required to bring their expenses and income records between the third and sixth months.
“We have done the training and given the forms and we are also tracking on our own so that we can produce our own report as we did in 2019.
“The commission tracks expenditure for the general election. In the last report we did, we had some figures from the presidential election of the two major parties.
“We remember that then, the maximum limit was N1 billion, and what we had, based on our tracking across the country, were N4.6billion and N3.3billion. What we tracked were about four items, namely billboards, print media advertisements, electronic media advertisements, and coverage.
“Talking about auditing of political parties, in the 2019 election based on requirements for reporting, 91 political parties participated and about 34 submitted reports (both expenditures and incomes).”
Even among the 34 parties, he said there were issues of compliance as the requirement was that political parties are to submit reports with affidavits.
“What we found out was that out of the 34 parties, only about nine complied in terms of submission with an affidavit.
“In terms of audit of parties, the commission is already in the process of auditing the accounts of political parties in the last five years; 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Auditors are already out with parties right now doing auditing them and will report back to the commission,” he said.
INEC Denies LEADERSHIP Access To Parties’ Audit Reports Under FoI Act
Interestingly, INEC also failed to respond to a Freedom of Information request to release the audit reports of political parties by LEADERSHIP.
The FoI request was made on October 18, 2022.
The letter reads in part: “In pursuant to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (2011), we write to request that you make available to us copies of Audit Reports of Political Parties from 1999 to date, particularly as regards campaign spending.
“Kindly note that this request is in line with Section 2 (3) and (4) which require “All information relating to the receipt or expenditure of public or other funds of the institution to be widely disseminated and made readily available.
“We would appreciate it if the information is made available in soft copies or hard copies within seven (7) days from the date of receipt of this application, as stipulated by the Freedom of Information Act.”
Also, a reminder was sent to INEC on November 1, 2022, yet the Commission did not respond to the request.
CSOs Caution Commission Against Shielding Political Parties
In their reaction to the development, some civil society organisations (CSOs) have called on the electoral umpire not to shield the political parties on the issue of audited financial reports, stating that any political party that did not file their financial report lacks the transparency to canvas for votes.
The CSOs which spoke to LEADERSHIP are Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Transparency International (TI) and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).
Speaking through their leader, Awwal Musa Rafsanjani, the CSOs said since the law requires INEC to make such audited financial reports public, INEC must ensure it publishes same in its website for the sake of transparency.
“The law requires INEC to ensure that political party finances are publicised and put it on its website so that Nigerians will know.
“In the past, many political parties failed to file such reports but political parties are not individual organisations so it is required that they provide the reports for transparency.
“It is important for parties to know that it is not only about canvassing votes but they must show transparency.
“If they failed to submit an audited report, they have no reason to canvas for votes because their transparency is weak. INEC must do things that will make political parties function very well.
“We urge INEC to ensure that records of political parties are kept well, and put it on the website. They don’t need to hide anything. Let them be open. Political parties must have a functional website where they post their reports,” Rafsanjani said.
Bot on his part, the national chairman of the Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC), the umbrella body of all political parties in Nigeria, Yabagi Sani, said that INEC is working on the audited financial reports of the political parties.
“Well, I can tell you for sure that INEC is working on it. The account statements have been submitted by the political parties and INEC is compiling them. I am sure they are working on it. Certainly, I can tell you that INEC is working on it,” Sani said.