Bukola Idowu of Kimpact Development Initiative criticises the N10 billion presidential campaign spending limit, describing it as corruption-driven
Bukola Idowu, Executive Director of Kimpact Development Initiative, has criticised the N10 billion spending limit for presidential campaigns, describing it as a policy that encourages corruption.
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Idowu argued that the figure lacks statistical backing and does not reflect economic realities.
He noted that a president does not earn up to N10 billion in salary over a four-year term, questioning the rationale behind approving such an amount for campaign expenses.
Speaking on Arise News, Idowu said lawmakers justified the increase from the previous N5 billion limit in the 2022 Electoral Act by citing inflation.
However, he maintained that the decision was not supported by verifiable data or research.
He questioned how the National Assembly arrived at N3 billion for governorship campaigns and N10 billion for presidential campaigns without considering differences in state sizes and local government areas.
Using Kano and Bayelsa as examples, Idowu pointed out that Kano has 44 local government areas while Bayelsa has eight, yet both states operate under the same N3 billion governorship campaign limit.
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He argued that such uniform figures lack logical and statistical justification.
According to him, setting high spending caps risks commercialising the electoral process and undermining democratic integrity.
