The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned politicians and political parties against using abusive, intemperate or inflammatory language in their campaigns ahead of the 2027 general election, saying offenders risk heavy fines and possible imprisonment under the Electoral Act 2026.
The Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Adedayo Oketola, in a telephone interview, said campaign rhetoric crosses the legal threshold into electoral intimidation the moment it moves beyond robust partisan debate or policy critique and enters the realm of coercion, hate speech or the threat of harm.
“Under the Nigerian legal framework, rhetoric becomes punishable intimidation when it incites ethnic, religious, or regional hostility through abusive, base, or slanderous language explicitly designed to provoke violent emotions or target specific groups,” Oketola said, citing Section 96 of the Electoral Act 2026.
Quoting the law directly, Oketola said, “A political campaign or slogan shall not be tainted with abusive language directly or indirectly likely to injure religious, ethnic, tribal or sectional feelings.”
He added that the law further provides that “abusive, intemperate, slanderous or base language, insinuations, innuendoes designed or likely to provoke violent reaction or emotions shall not be employed or used in political campaigns.”
According to him, campaign rhetoric transitions into outright intimidation when it threatens force or violence, whether by directly or indirectly warning voters, candidates, or electoral officials of physical harm, economic reprisal, or social ostracism to compel or suppress support for a candidate.
He stressed that political campaigns must also not create an atmosphere of fear calculated to deter voter turnout or disenfranchise specific demographics.
On what INEC can actually do about the trend, Oketola clarified that the Commission is an election management body and not a security agency, but explained that Section 95 of the Electoral Act 2026 explicitly prescribes the security architecture for political rallies in relation to the operational roles of the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, and other security institutions.
“Beyond inter-agency security coordination, INEC is statutorily empowered to monitor political campaigns and enforce compliance with the Code of Conduct for Political Parties. The Commission can issue formal queries and sanction non-compliant parties within its administrative limits,” he said.
Oketola disclosed that, to deter, Section 96(7) of the Electoral Act 2026 prescribes severe statutory penalties for offenders.
“Any candidate who commits these offences is liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of ₦5,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months,” he said.
He added that political parties face even stiffer sanctions.
“A non-compliant political party is liable to a fine of ₦10,000,000 in the first instance, and ₦2,000,000 for each subsequent offence,” he stated.
Oketola insisted, however, that electoral integrity cannot be preserved by INEC alone, describing it as a collective duty of stakeholders.
“The Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies have a clear duty to prevent the breakdown of law and order during political campaigns,” Oketola said.
He added that the media must actively play its watchdog role by calling out purveyors of incendiary statements, while traditional and religious leaders must also wade in, using their moral authority to encourage politicians to eschew inflammatory rhetoric and avoid provoking violence in the country.
The INEC spokesman’s warning came against the backdrop of a fresh wave of threats by highly placed political office holders across the country in recent weeks, with a section of Nigeria’s political elite openly threatening voters, opponents and dissenting residents with violence, eviction and physical harm ahead of the 2027 polls, triggering condemnation from civil society groups, rights organisations and opposition politicians.
“Political campaigns should be platforms of competing ideas, not theatres of war,” Oketola said.
