On February 15, 2024, a claim went viral on WhatsApp and X (formerly Twitter) that Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour party in the 2023 general elections, was the first ever presidential candidate in the history of Nigerian democracy to publicly give account for his campaign funding.
The post garnered over 353,000 views, 17,000 likes, and more than 5,600 reposts.
Claim: Is Peter Obi the first Nigerian presidential candidate to publicly give account of his election campaign funds?
Verification:
The transparency of political party and election campaign finance is central to a vibrant and sustainable democracy. The Electoral Act requires political parties to provide their annual financial reports to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure elections are not unduly monetized.
CDD War Room found out that on April 7, 2019, the Presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC) Omoyele Sowore, disclosed the account of the funds solicited from the public for his campaign activities. According to the Sowore 2019 Campaign Organisation report, the party spent a total of N157,884,936.98 for its campaign activities for Nigeria’s 2019 presidential election. The campaign, which spanned 50 weeks and cut across 36 states in over 15 countries, detailed its expenses to include townhall rentals, which gulped N9.8 million for event centres and N3.2 million for accessories.
Similarly, on June 20, 2023, the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate also gave a breakdown of his party’s campaign expenses during the 2023 general elections, where he was also the party’s presidential candidate. According to the report, Sowore made this in a statement released by the Sowore Political Action Committee (SPAC) while urging other presidential candidates to do the same.
Further findings revealed that on February 7, 2019, former presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Oby Ezekwesili, released her campaign finance breakdown. The document showed the income and expenditure between October 1, 2018, and February 2, 2019. Despite pulling out of the presidential race about a month before the polls, Ezekwesili spent about N48 million in a space of five months for the 2019 presidential campaign.
The breakdown published on Ezekwesili’s campaign website showed she raised N48,957,416.00, $17,645.00, and £200 between October 1, 2018, and February 2, 2019. During that period, the campaign spent over N12 million on travels, N10.6 million on media and publicity, and another N15.3 million on “campaign mobilisation fees, meetings and logistics costs.” The printing of campaign posters and other materials cost the campaign a total N 1,222,920.00, the breakdown shows. Ezekwesili said N2,435,609.81, $12,634.50, £200.00 are left in the campaign bank account.
Verdict: False
The CDD War Room confirm that the claim that Peter Obi is the first presidential candidate to publicly give an account of his campaign finances is false, Omoyele Sowore, the AAC presidential candidate, and Oby Ezekwesili, the ACPN presidential candidate, had communicated with the public about their campaign finances.
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