Buhari limits presidential campaign budget to N1bn and bans ministers from funding elections

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has issued campaign guidelines to his All Progressives Congress (APC) banning all ministries and parastatals from using public money to fund the party and capping the amount that can be spent in the presidential election to N1bn ($2.73m).

Yesterday, President Buhari inaugurated the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) and told party members that her wants to cut campaign costs to prevent ministers and public officers from diverting resources of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to electioneering. As such, President Buhari has banned all those campaigning for him from approaching MDAs for cash.

In 2015, former petroleum minister Diezani Alison Madueke allegedly sourced over N23.9bn from her ministry to fund the re-election of former president Dr Goodluck Jonathan. To avoid a repeat of that, President Buhari has also directed all security agencies, especially the Office of the National Security Adviser to stay away from politics and using scarce resources to fund election campaigns.

He is also looking at a timeline of one month to the poll for his campaigns to save costs and this message is also been sent to governors. This frugal campaign is in line with President Buhari's pledge to cut the cost of governance, combat corruption and limit public spending to necessities.

One presidency source said: “For the first time in the history of elections in Nigeria, President Buhari may set a new template with a low-profile campaign strategy. He wants to live by example and put in place a new cost template for campaigns, so the APC will not embark on a jamboree.

“With the state of economy, the president is of the opinion that using huge scarce resources for elections is wasteful. His experience of how the PDP blew hard-earned oil revenue and funds meant for arms procurement on campaigns made him to opt for a cost effective method.

“He also believes that his achievements in office will speak better for him, which is why he thinks that character and achievements will determine the 2019 poll. When the campaign takes shape, Nigerians will know which party is spendthrift or prudent.”

 Apart from President Buhari, most governors have been cautious in deploying state resources to campaigns as well. Also, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is monitoring campaign finances and mounting surveillance on banks, including high volume of transactions.

According to APC sources, President Buhari has urged that the amount spent on the presidential campaign should not exceed N1bn, while that spent for governorships should be pegged at N200m. For senators, the figure is N40m, for the House of Representatives N20m, for state house of assembly N10m, for local government chairman N10m and for councillor N1m.