Falana: INEC Must Caution Politicians for Breaching Campaign Timeline

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to caution politicians over premature campaigns ahead of the 2027 general election, declaring the ongoing electioneering activities “totally illegal.”

Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), made the call during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, where he criticised early political moves as a breach of the Electoral Act, 2022.

“As far as the Electoral Act, 2022 is concerned, the ongoing election campaign is illegal, totally illegal,” he said.

He described the premature campaigns as a distraction from governance and a violation of the law, urging INEC to step in.

“So it’s not time yet to campaign and I do hope that INEC would draw the attention of politicians, including those in government, to relevant provisions of the Electoral Act,” Falana said. “There is no provision yet. There is no room yet for campaigning in Nigeria.”

He further argued that those currently in power should focus on governance, saying, “When is the government going to govern the country? And that is why the law has set out when election campaigns will start, and when they can end. It cannot be a business of four years.”

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Falana dismissed calls for power rotation as “diversionary,” insisting that the focus should be on solving Nigeria’s critical problems.

“You insult Nigerians when you hand over the politics of the country to a few people to decide who should govern, for how many years, which side of the country or which religious group should rule,” he said.