A new height in political campaign funding and accountability was reached on Thursday when managers of the Obi/Datti campaign organization released details of their income and expenditure for the 2023 presidential election.

Addressing a world press conference with top members of the campaign organization in Abuja, in the presence of Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Aisha Yesufu, the chairman of the fundraising team for the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation gave details of the account to be total income generated was N1,395,976,994.00 and total expenditure to be N1,395,213,389.00

A Further breakdown of the fundraising activities shows that donations from citizens were NN595,976,994 while Mr. Peter Obi himself contributed N800,000,000

In the breakdown, Ms. Yesufu announced that the campaign organization’s expenditure covered campaign materials, mobilization of party agents, media appearances, and other visibility involved in the campaign.

She further analyzed that the LP candidate spent 744,500,000 on litigation and lawsuits that emanated after his loss in the election, adding that there was no need to seek extra funding for that as the funds donated by the candidate covered the legal fireworks.

She said “Accountability and transparency are very critical and important; that is why we asked people to donate so that we could come back to them to explain how their money was judiciously used.

”We thank everyone who donated in cash and kindness. From the donations from citizens, we received N595,976,994. This is the money we raised from the four accounts that we have talked about.

”We also received N8,000,00.00 from the candidate himself (Peter Obi). We designed a strategic blueprint focused on channeling the movement energy and support for Peter Obi and Datti Ahmed with different support groups.

“We provided direct and indirect support to over a hundred support groups across all 36 states in Nigeria. We also deployed media-related campaigns that reached over 11 million people, leveraging over 40 radio stations, community outreach, and social media.

“We would have loved to use Televisions and all of that, but because of our financial constraints, we were mindful of being judicious in our usage of the funds that we received.

“So, out of these things, campaign materials worth N258,374,330.00 were procured and distributed across the 36 States and Abuja. Media and radio broadcasting was at the cost of N16,432,867.00.

“For the election promotion expenses, we had N10,808,948.00.

”For Polling Unit Agents, we spent N324,381,700.00. And then, of course, we had bank charges of N1,750,544.00. We also had administrative charges of N477,000.00.

”We deployed N744,500,000.00 to cover legal expenses. And then, in campaign and election activities, we had over N28,500,000.00.

“Regarding legal fees, remember what I said earlier: We had N800,000,000.00 that the candidate himself brought.”

Recall that an allegation of financial misappropriation sparked an internal crisis in the party, leading to Mr Obi’s request for an internal audit to achieve financial transparency.

The Electoral Act expects INEC to monitor campaign expenses of candidates and political parties. But INEC is overstressed that it is barely able to do this. The political parties are also expected to submit their accounts to INEC but often what is submitted is at variance with the actual expenditure and funding received by the parties.

What the Labour Party has done has set a new standard for other political parties to follow. Whether they would do this is yet to be seen.