The Independent National Electoral Commission has cautioned politicians and parties that the use of abusive, intemperate or threatening language during campaigns for the 2027 general elections can attract fines of up to ₦10 million and prison sentences of up to 12 months under the Electoral Act 2026.
Adedayo Oketola, Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser to the INEC Chairman, told Vanguard in a telephone interview on Sunday that campaign speech crosses into illegal intimidation once it moves beyond legitimate policy debate into coercion, hate speech or threats of harm.
He pointed to Section 96 of the Electoral Act 2026, which states that a political campaign or slogan “shall not be tainted with abusive language directly or indirectly likely to injure religious, ethnic, tribal or sectional feelings.” The same section also bars “abusive, intemperate, slanderous or base language, insinuations, innuendoes designed or likely to provoke violent reaction or emotions.”
Oketola explained that rhetoric becomes punishable when it threatens force or violence, warns of physical harm, economic punishment or social exclusion, or creates an atmosphere of fear intended to suppress turnout or exclude particular groups of voters.
Under Section 96(7), a candidate convicted of these offences faces a maximum fine of ₦5 million or imprisonment for 12 months. A political party that breaches the rules is liable to a fine of ₦10 million for a first offence and ₦2 million for each subsequent offence.
INEC can monitor campaigns, issue formal queries and impose administrative sanctions under the Code of Conduct for Political Parties. However, Oketola stressed that the commission is not a security agency. Section 95 of the Act assigns primary responsibility for maintaining order at rallies to the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other security bodies.
He added that lasting electoral integrity depends on collective action: the police must prevent disorder, the media must publicly challenge inflammatory statements, and traditional and religious leaders must use their influence to discourage violence-provoking rhetoric. “Political campaigns should be platforms of competing ideas, not theatres of war,” Oketola said.
The warning follows a series of recent public statements by office-holders that have drawn criticism from civil-society groups, rights organisations and opposition figures.
In Osun State, Senator Francis Adenigba Fadahunsi was questioned by police after a video circulated in which he told APC supporters in Ilesa to “kill” members of the Accord party if they appeared in the town before election day. Governor Ademola Adeleke rejected later clarifications and described the remarks as a national security threat.
In the Federal Capital Territory, Kuje Area Council Chairman Samuel Danjuma Shekwolo told residents who do not support the APC to leave the area ahead of 2027; Amnesty International Nigeria condemned the comments as a call to violence.
In Borno State, Youth and Sports Commissioner Sainna Buba threatened that opponents of the APC would be flogged and that anyone who crossed the party would have a finger broken. In Yobe State, APC chairman Alhaji Mohammed Gadaka urged married women to leave husbands who opposed the party and offered to pay new bride prices; he later withdrew the remarks after public outcry.
Similar statements were reported from the Gwandu Local Government chairman in Kebbi State and from Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru, who warned newly elected council chairmen that they would be removed if they failed to deliver their areas for the APC.
Independent monitors have recorded elevated levels of election-related violence in recent contests. The International Republican Institute noted more than 81 such incidents in Osun State in the year before the August governorship election, while the Kimpact Development Initiative documented 73 incidents that caused 29 deaths ahead of local polls in the same state.
INEC has signalled that it will continue monitoring campaign conduct and will work with security agencies to enforce the legal limits on political speech. Whether the stated penalties are applied in practice will depend on investigations by the police and subsequent court processes.
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