The National Assembly has doubled the campaign spending limit for presidential candidates to N10 billion and increased the governorship ceiling to N3 billion under the newly enacted Electoral Act 2026, significantly raising the financial thresholds for political contests ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The revised limits were disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by Opeyemi Bamidele, senate leader, through his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs, outlining key reforms introduced in the new electoral framework recently signed into law by President Bola Tinubu.
According to the statement, the upward review of campaign spending limits is contained in Section 92(1–8) of the Electoral Act 2026 and reflects current economic realities and the rising cost of political campaigns, while maintaining statutory controls to regulate election financing.
Under the repealed Electoral Act 2022, presidential candidates were restricted to a maximum campaign expenditure of N5 billion. The new law raises the ceiling to N10 billion. Similarly, the spending limit for governorship candidates has been increased from N1 billion to N3 billion.
The law also raises spending thresholds for other elective offices. Senate candidates can now spend up to N500 million, up from N100 million under the previous law, while the limit for House of Representatives candidates has been increased from N70 million to N250 million.
For State House of Assembly elections, the campaign spending ceiling has been raised from N30 million to N100 million.
At the local government level, the spending limit for Area Council chairmanship candidates has been reviewed upward from N30 million to N60 million, while councillorship candidates can now spend up to N10 million, an increase from the previous N5 million limit.
Bamidele said the adjustments were made to align campaign finance regulations with prevailing economic conditions while ensuring that limits remain in place to prevent excessive spending and protect the integrity of the electoral process.
He added that enforcement mechanisms have been retained in the law, including provisions to sanction candidates who exceed the prescribed spending thresholds.
The revised spending limits form part of broader reforms introduced in the Electoral Act 2026, which was harmonised by both chambers of the National Assembly on February 17 and assented by Tinubu.
