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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Elections & Politics

Kwara PDP and ADC Reject N100 Million Political Advertising Fee

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

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  • Kwara chapters of the PDP and ADC rejected a new political advertising permit schedule ranging from N2 million to N100 million.
  • The parties said the fees could restrict opposition participation and give wealthy candidates or the ruling party an advantage.
  • The PDP questioned the legal basis for the charges and the services they would fund.

Kwara’s opposition parties are challenging political advertising fees that could require presidential candidates to pay N100 million for permits ahead of the 2027 elections.

The Kwara State Signage and Advertisement Agency unveiled the fee schedule at a stakeholders’ meeting in Ilorin. It sets charges at N50 million for governorship candidates, N30 million for senatorial candidates, N10 million for House of Representatives candidates and N2 million for House of Assembly candidates.

The state chapters of the Peoples Democratic Party and the African Democratic Congress rejected the charges. The PDP described them as excessive and unjustifiable, while arguing that the fees could prevent opposition candidates from taking part on equal terms.

The existence of regulatory powers does not give public institutions an unlimited licence to impose arbitrary financial burdens on citizens and political candidates.

— Olusegun AdewaraThe Kwara PDP publicity secretary challenged the legal and administrative basis of the new advertising fees.

PDP publicity secretary Olusegun Adewara said the party would comply with lawful rules governing political communication but would resist what he called an arbitrary financial burden. “The existence of regulatory powers does not give public institutions an unlimited licence to impose arbitrary financial burdens on citizens and political candidates,” he said.

The PDP acknowledged the agency’s role in regulating outdoor advertising, permits, posters and political signs. It nevertheless questioned who approved the fees, how officials calculated them and what services justified the sums. Adewara also cited the Electoral Act 2026, saying public institutions should not use campaign regulations to favor or disadvantage a party or candidate. “The new KWASA policy, if implemented in its present form, could have the practical effect of turning political communication into an exclusive preserve of the ruling party and this will be fatally unhealthy for our democracy,” he said. The ADC separately called the charges a financial barrier to political participation.

The new KWASA policy, if implemented in its present form, could have the practical effect of turning political communication into an exclusive preserve of the ruling party and this will be fatally unhealthy for our democracy.

— Olusegun AdewaraThe PDP argued that the fee schedule could limit equal political participation before the 2027 elections.
About this summary

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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