Governorship Aspirants Splashed ₦30bn On Party Primaries -EFCC
The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, has raised the alarm over the staggering cost of contesting elective office in Nigeria, revealing that some governorship aspirants spent between N20 billion and N30 billion to secure electoral victory during the just-concluded political parties’ primary elections.
Olukoyede made the disclosure on Wednesday while delivering the inaugural High-Level Guest Speakers’ Series organised by the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies (CPSS), University of Ilorin, in Kwara State, on the theme “De-risking and Mobilising Critical Stakeholders for Peaceful and Credible 2027 Elections in Nigeria”.
He explained that the commission conducted an assessment of election spending patterns late last year, covering primaries, general elections, and post-election tribunal processes, which revealed the massive financial burden associated with securing political office.
“Sometime late last year, we took an assessment of how much a contestant for the office of a Governor in Nigeria spends in the build-up to the election, during the primaries, during the election itself, and post-election tribunal issues and all of that, and we saw it to be between N20 billion and N30 billion,” Olukoyede said.
He warned that the trend had dangerously transformed politics into an investment venture, with serious consequences for governance and public trust.
“If you spend that kind of money to get to an office, of course, everybody sees it as an investment, and that’s why we are here, to see what we can do to sanitise our electoral process and ensure that the process is not contaminated,” he stated.
“When the process is contaminated, you get contaminated leaders.”
Olukoyede said the huge financial outlay required to win elections often created pressure on public office holders to divert public funds after assuming office, in a bid to recover their investments.
“The commercialisation of votes weakens the foundation of good governance because it compromises the political recruitment process. Leaders who buy their way into office are more likely to focus on recovering their investments rather than serving the public interest,” he said.
The EFCC boss noted that the anti-graft agency had made several arrests across the country over vote-buying and related electoral offences, with several convictions already secured.
He noted that those prosecuted include politicians, electoral officials and ordinary citizens found culpable of electoral misconduct.
Olukoyede warned that impunity in the electoral process could undermine democracy and national stability, stressing that there must be no sacred cows in the enforcement of electoral laws.
He also disclosed that the commission plans to deploy drones and other technological tools to strengthen election monitoring ahead of the 2027 general elections, particularly in tracking vote-buying and financial inducements at polling units.
Olukoyede called on political parties and their supporters to embrace issue-based campaigns and reject inflammatory rhetoric capable of inciting violence.
He urged stakeholders, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, civil society organisations, the media and political actors, to work collaboratively to ensure peaceful, free and credible elections in 2027.
