The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has urged the 19 presidential candidates announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission to publicly declare their assets and liabilities ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
SERAP also asked the candidates to disclose the assets and liabilities of their spouses and, where applicable, their unmarried children under 18, as well as the legitimate sources of their significant wealth.
In an open letter dated August 8, 2026, and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation further urged the candidates to publicly reject vote-buying and electoral bribery before and during the election.
FILE: Atiku Abubakar
The candidates include President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress, Peter Obi of the National Democratic Congress, Sandy Onor of the Peoples Democratic Party, Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress, Donald Duke of the Peoples Redemption Party and Okwori Elizabeth Frederick of the National Democratic Party.
Others are Chukwu Anita Zugwai of the Young Progressives Party, Rufai Omoaje of the Action Alliance, Adenuga Sunday of the Boot Party, Memeh Samuel of the Democratic Labour Alliance, Nwanyanwu Danerechukwu of the Zenith Labour Party, Okereke Chibuzor of the Labour Party, Okereke Esther of the National Rescue Movement, Abbas-Bin Aliyu of the Action Democratic Party, Dikwa Mohammed of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Adebayo Adewole of the Social Democratic Party, Seyi Makinde of the Allied Peoples Movement and Yusuf Kabiru of the Action Peoples Party.
The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Photo: X | Peter Obi.
SERAP said the presidential candidates should voluntarily go beyond the minimum legal requirements by embracing higher standards of transparency, accountability and integrity.
The organisation said, “Candidates asking Nigerians to entrust them with enormous constitutional powers over public finances, natural resources, appointments and security institutions should be willing, before asking for their votes, to demonstrate that their personal financial affairs can withstand reasonable public scrutiny.”
It added, “Nigeria’s democracy belongs to its citizens. Votes must not be bought. Public office must not be treated as private property.
“Those seeking the highest public office must be willing to meet the highest standards of transparency, accountability and integrity.”
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project. Photo: SERAP
SERAP said publishing the candidates’ assets before the election would enable voters to scrutinise their financial interests and identify possible conflicts of interest.
“Voluntary pre-election disclosure would enable voters to assess potential conflicts of interest and significant sources of wealth, strengthen public confidence in the electoral process, and establish a baseline against which future changes in assets could be assessed if a candidate is elected,” it said.
The organisation stated that Nigerians should be able to make their choice based on the candidates’ policies, competence and integrity rather than their financial capacity.
“Nigerians should not be asked to choose between candidates based on who can spend the most money. They should be able to choose based on policies, competence, integrity, character and their vision for Nigeria,” SERAP said.
The organisation also called on the candidates to disclose the legitimate sources of significant assets, including business interests, investments, real property, substantial gifts and inheritance, while allowing for legitimate concerns about personal security and privacy.
It further urged candidates elected in 2027 to commit to updating their public declarations and explaining any material increase in their wealth.
On vote-buying, SERAP asked all the candidates to publicly reject the practice and direct their parties, campaign organisations, agents and supporters not to offer money, gifts, food, transportation benefits or other inducements in exchange for votes.
The organisation said it was concerned about the persistent use of money and other material inducements to influence voters, warning that such practices undermine the sovereignty of the people.
“We are also concerned about the persistent use of money, gifts and other inducements to influence voters. Vote-buying directly undermines the constitutional principle that sovereignty belongs to the people,” SERAP said.
It cited Section 14(2)(a) of the 1999 Constitution, which provides that sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria, and Section 125 of the Electoral Act 2026, which criminalises bribery and related conduct intended to procure the return of a person to elective office or the vote of an elector.
SERAP said, “An election in which citizens’ votes are purchased, coerced or otherwise financially induced cannot genuinely reflect the free political will of the Nigerian people.”
It also warned that vote-buying was particularly damaging in the face of economic hardship because it could exploit voters’ vulnerabilities.
“Vote-buying is particularly harmful in circumstances of poverty and economic hardship because it exploits economic vulnerability and risks transforming a constitutional political right into a financial transaction,” the organisation said.
On the legal basis for asset disclosure, SERAP acknowledged that the Constitution does not expressly require presidential candidates to publish their asset declarations before an election.
However, it argued that the Constitution, taken as a whole, promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in public office.
“Although the Nigerian Constitution does not expressly require presidential candidates to publish their asset declarations before an election, the Constitution, read as a whole, embodies principles of transparency, accountability, integrity in public office and meaningful participation in government,” it said.
SERAP also cited Paragraph 11 of Part I of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, which requires public officers to submit declarations of their properties, assets and liabilities, including those of unmarried children under 18.
It further cited Section 140(1), which requires a person elected President to make the prescribed declaration before assuming the functions of office.
The organisation also relied on Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects citizens’ rights to participate in public affairs and to vote and be elected in genuine periodic elections.
According to SERAP, these rights cannot be meaningfully exercised where voters lack relevant information needed to scrutinise candidates seeking to govern them.
The organisation, therefore, urged the 19 presidential candidates to sign and publish a public integrity pledge committing themselves, their political parties and campaign organisations to peaceful, transparent, accountable and corruption-free elections.
It also asked candidates to report credible allegations of vote-buying involving their campaign organisations to the appropriate authorities.
SERAP said the 2027 election provided an opportunity for presidential candidates to demonstrate that public office should be treated as a public trust.
“The choice before Nigerians in 2027 should be a choice based on ideas, policies, competence and integrity, not on who can spend the most money or conceal the most wealth,” it said.
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