Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cleared the way for the 2027 presidential campaign with the publication of 19 candidates’ particulars, with the Electoral Act 2026 allowing presidential and governorship contenders to spend a combined maximum of ₦571bn.
The figure represents the maximum amount that the candidates are legally permitted to spend under Section 92 of the new Electoral Act and does not mean that the candidates have already raised, received or intend to spend the full amount.
The combined ceiling comprises ₦190bn for 19 presidential candidates and ₦381bn for 127 governorship candidates currently in the race across 28 states.
Under the new electoral law, each presidential candidate is permitted to spend up to ₦10bn on campaign activities, while a governorship candidate can spend a maximum of ₦3bn.
With 19 presidential candidates currently listed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the maximum possible expenditure for the presidential contest stands at ₦190bn. The 127 governorship candidates identified across the 28 states could collectively spend another ₦381bn if every candidate reaches the statutory ceiling.
Together, the two categories produce a potential campaign expenditure limit of ₦571bn ahead of the 2027 elections.
The development comes as INEC publishes the personal particulars and credentials of the 19 presidential candidates and their running mates, marking a significant step towards the commencement of the presidential campaign season.
The 2027 presidential election is scheduled for January 16, 2027, while governorship and State House of Assembly elections will take place on February 6, 2027.
The financial provisions governing the elections have generated particular interest because the Electoral Act 2026 significantly increases the statutory campaign expenditure limits compared with the previous legal framework.
The new ceilings give presidential candidates substantially greater room to finance nationwide campaigns, while governorship candidates are also permitted to deploy considerably larger sums in their efforts to secure votes across the states.
According to an election tracker, 127 candidates are currently expected to contest governorship elections across the 28 states holding the poll in 2027. Of these, 122 have been nominated, four have declared their intention to contest, while one remains under monitoring.
However, the official INEC website had yet to publish the complete number of governorship candidates at the time of the report. The commission’s 2027 election page currently states that the list of candidates for the governorship contests “will be available soon.”
INEC confirmed that governorship elections will be conducted in 28 states during the 2027 cycle. Eight states Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Ondo and Osun will not participate in the governorship election because they operate on an off-cycle electoral schedule.
The exclusion of those states means that the ₦381bn potential governorship campaign expenditure is spread among candidates competing in the 28 states where governorship elections will be held.
New Electoral Act Raises Campaign Spending Thresholds Across Elections
The ₦571bn combined ceiling for presidential and governorship candidates is part of a broader revision of campaign expenditure limits under the Electoral Act 2026.
Section 92 of the new legislation establishes different spending ceilings depending on the office being contested, creating a tiered system that permits candidates seeking higher political offices to spend larger amounts.
The law also establishes expenditure limits for candidates seeking seats in the National Assembly.
A candidate contesting a senatorial election may spend up to ₦500m, while the ceiling for a House of Representatives candidate is N250m.
At the state level, a candidate seeking election to the State House of Assembly may spend a maximum of ₦100m.
The same ₦100m ceiling applies to candidates contesting Area Council chairmanship elections, while candidates seeking Area Council councillorship positions are permitted to spend up to ₦10m.
The new limits effectively create a financial framework covering the different levels of electoral competition, from the presidency and governorships to legislative and local government positions.
For the presidential candidates, however, the ₦10bn ceiling could make the 2027 campaign one of the most financially significant electoral contests in Nigeria’s history. A nationwide presidential campaign typically requires extensive spending on advertising, transportation, rallies, campaign offices, personnel, communications and voter outreach across the country’s large and geographically diverse electorate.
The governorship contests are similarly expected to generate significant expenditure, particularly in states with large populations and highly competitive political environments.
Despite the scale of the figures, the statutory ceilings should not be interpreted as forecasts of actual campaign spending. The ₦571bn figure represents the legal maximum available to the 146 candidates collectively if each were to spend up to the limit permitted by law.
Actual expenditure could therefore be substantially lower depending on candidates’ financial resources, fundraising capacity, party structures and campaign strategies.
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