Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties in Nigeria are not permitted to accept funds from foreign countries.
INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, stated during a Channels Television program, Politics Today, that parties are also not permitted to receive funds anonymously.
The provision could be a setback for the Labour Party, which has been courting Nigerians in the diaspora to help fund their campaigns.
“Section 225 of the Nigerian constitution states unequivocally that no registered political party in Nigeria shall have any funds outside the country,” Okoye explained.
“In other words, a political party cannot open an account and have funds remitted into that account from outside the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he added.
“Secondly, it states unequivocally that no political party shall retain any funds remitted to it from outside the country.”
“And if such funds are remitted to the political party from outside the country, that particular political party has a constitutional and legal obligation to turn such funds in to INEC within 21 days of receipt.”
