The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has taken the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court, accusing the commission of failing to probe allegations that APC state governors funneled N800 billion from federal allocation funds into a political campaign war chest.
According to a statement from SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the group filed the suit — numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/1426/2026 — at the Federal High Court in Abuja last week.
The allegations, drawn from media reports, claim that APC governors have been routinely siphoning money from their monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements into a fund earmarked to back President Bola Tinubu’s bid for re-election. SERAP cited a Premium Times opinion piece by Festus Adedayo, published in May 2026, as supporting evidence in the case.
What SERAP wants
The rights group is asking the court to order INEC to:
- Formally investigate the diversion allegations
- Compel the governors and the APC to disclose full details of any campaign fund contributions, including donor identities and the source of the money
- Launch a broader review into whether political parties and candidates are complying with Section 91 of the Electoral Act, particularly around campaign finance sources ahead of the 2027 polls
The legal argument
SERAP’s lawyers, Oluwadare and Kehinde Oyewumi, argue that if true, the alleged misuse of public funds threatens the credibility of the 2027 general elections. The group contends that Section 91 of the Electoral Act already gives INEC the power to cap political donations, demand transparency on funding sources, and penalize violations — including fines of up to ₦10 million for parties and financial penalties for individuals amounting to five times any excess contribution.
SERAP insists that when allegations point to state resources being funneled into political campaigns, INEC has a constitutional and statutory obligation to investigate — and that failing to do so erodes public trust in the electoral system and infringes on citizens’ right to participate meaningfully in governance.
No hearing date has been set yet.
