The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the 19 presidential candidates announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2027 election to publicly disclose their assets and liabilities, including those of their spouses and, where applicable, unmarried children under 18.
The organisation also asked the candidates to disclose the legitimate sources of their significant assets and publicly reject vote-buying and electoral bribery before and during the election.
SERAP made the demands in an open letter dated August 8, 2026, signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, and issued on Sunday.
The candidates listed by the organisation are President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC); Atiku Abubakar of the African Democratic Congress (ADC); Peter Obi of the National Democratic Congress (NDC); Senator Sandy Onor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Omoyele Sowore of the African Action Congress (AAC); Donald Duke of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP); Okwori Ada Elizabeth Frederick of the National Democratic Party (NDP); Chukwu Anita Zugwai of the Young Progressives Party (YPP); Rufai Adekunle Omoaje of the Action Alliance (AA); and Adenuga Sunday of the Boot Party.
Others are Memeh Samuel of the Democratic Leadership Alliance (DLA); Nwanyanwu Daniel Danerechukwu of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP); Okereke Sunday Chibuzor of the Labour Party (LP); Okereke Iken Esther of the National Rescue Movement (NRM); Abbas-Bin Aliyu of the Action Democratic Party (ADP); Dikwa Suleiman Mohammed of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP); Adebayo Adewole Ebenezer of the Social Democratic Party (SDP); Seyi Makinde of the Accord Movement (APM); and Yusuf Kabiru of the Allied Peoples Movement (APP).
SERAP urged the candidates to go beyond the minimum legal requirements and voluntarily embrace higher standards of transparency, accountability and integrity in their bids for the presidency.
The organisation said candidates seeking the nation’s highest elected office should be willing to demonstrate, before asking for votes, that their personal financial affairs could withstand reasonable public scrutiny.
“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,” SERAP said.
It argued that Nigerians should be able to assess presidential candidates based on their policies, competence, integrity, character and vision rather than their ability to spend money during campaigns.
According to the organisation, voluntary pre-election asset disclosure would enable voters to identify potential conflicts of interest and significant sources of wealth, while strengthening public confidence in the electoral process.
SERAP said such disclosure would also provide a baseline against which material changes in the assets of candidates could be assessed if they were elected.
“The 2027 presidential election presents an opportunity for political leaders to show that public office is a public trust. Candidates who voluntarily disclose their assets and reject vote-buying can show that they are prepared to uphold the transparency and accountability they promise to deliver if elected,” it said.
The organisation acknowledged that the Nigerian Constitution does not expressly require presidential candidates to publish their asset declarations before an election.
However, it argued that the Constitution, read as a whole, embodies principles of transparency, accountability, integrity in public office and meaningful participation in government.
SERAP noted that the Constitution already requires elected public officers, including the President, to declare their assets and liabilities.
It cited Paragraph 11 of Part I of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution, which requires public officers to submit declarations of their properties, assets and liabilities, including those of unmarried children under 18.
It also cited Section 140(1), which requires a person elected President to make the prescribed declaration before assuming the functions of office.
SERAP further 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.
It argued that voters could not meaningfully exercise those rights if they were denied relevant information necessary to scrutinise candidates seeking to govern them.
The organisation also raised concerns over the persistent use of money, gifts and other inducements to influence voters, describing vote-buying as a direct threat to electoral integrity.
SERAP cited Section 14(2)(a) of the Constitution, which provides that sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria, from whom government derives its powers and authority.
It also cited Section 125 of the Electoral Act 2026, which it said criminalises bribery and related conduct intended to procure the return of a person to elective office or the vote of an elector.
“An election in which citizens’ votes are purchased, coerced or otherwise financially induced cannot genuinely reflect the free political will of the Nigerian people,” SERAP said.
It added that vote-buying was particularly harmful amid poverty and economic hardship because it exploited voters’ economic vulnerability and risked turning a constitutional political right into a financial transaction.
The organisation therefore called on the presidential candidates to publicly reject vote-buying and electoral bribery, including any such conduct carried out through their campaign organisations, agents, supporters or political associates.
It also urged them to instruct their campaign organisations and political associates not to distribute money, gifts, food, transportation benefits or other material inducements in exchange for votes.
SERAP asked the candidates to report credible allegations of vote-buying involving their campaign organisations to the appropriate authorities.
Beyond asset disclosure and the rejection of vote-buying, the organisation urged the candidates to commit to updating their public declarations if elected and explaining any material increase in their wealth.
It also called on them to disclose the legitimate sources of significant assets, including business interests, investments, real property, substantial gifts and inheritances, while protecting legitimate personal security and privacy concerns.
SERAP further asked the candidates to sign and publish a public integrity pledge committing themselves, their parties and campaign organisations to peaceful, transparent, accountable and corruption-free elections.
“Candidates seeking the presidency have a particular responsibility to demonstrate that they are prepared to uphold the standards of transparency, accountability and integrity expected of public office holders,” the organisation said.
SERAP said the choice before Nigerians in 2027 should ultimately be based on ideas, policies, competence and integrity, rather than which candidate could spend the most money or conceal the most wealth.
