The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the Federal Court in Abuja over the commission’s alleged failure to investigate corruption allegations involving political finance diversion.

The legal action follows widespread reports that state governors elected under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been illicitly diverting an estimated 800 billion Naira from their respective Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations. The public funds was allegedly being channeled into a dedicated campaign fund specifically structured to bankroll President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign mobilization.

In the lawsuit, marked as suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1426/2026, the accountability group is seeking an order of mandamus to compel INEC to activate its statutory and constitutional oversight duties by probing the origin and handling of the campaign fund.

SERAP is demanding that the electoral umpire force the APC and the participating state executives to provide full public disclosure regarding the dedicated account, including the precise identities of all financial contributors and verifiable proof of the lawful origin of the money.

The civil society organization argued that allowing such massive, unverified political finance flows to proceed unchecked creates an unfair advantage, directly distorts democratic competition, and violates the strict spending and donation thresholds established under Section 91 of the Electoral Act.

Furthermore, the plaintiff maintained that opaque campaign financing remains a major structural entry point for public corruption, severely eroding the institutional legitimacy of the nation’s entire electoral system.

SERAP emphasized that public funds meant for regional infrastructure, healthcare, and localized socioeconomic development should never be converted into partisan campaign capital.

The group insists that INEC cannot properly fulfill its mandate to deliver free, fair, and credible future elections if it actively tolerates such flagrant disregard for transparency, urging the court to intervene swiftly to protect the constitutional right of Nigerian citizens to clean, accountable governance.