THE ROLE OF THE INEC IN POLITICAL FINANCE IN NIGERIA'S FOURTH REPUBLIC

The role of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the management, monitoring, and supervision of political finance is spelt out in both the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act 2022. However, in every election held since the start of the Fourth Republic in 1999, there has been a continued and blatant violation of the electoral laws guiding political finance in the country. It is important to stress that the issue of political finance is central to the overall integrity of the electoral process, so that, few moneybags with very deep pockets will not hijack the electoral process. To make matters worse, no political party, political candidate, political gladiator, or their collaborators have been brought before any court of competent jurisdiction for any electoral offense. This has encouraged a culture of impunity, as more talks have conducted than the much-needed concrete steps of implementable actions to nip this sorry pass in the bud. Hence, the questions that come up are: one, what are the roles of the INEC in the supervision of political finance? Two, what challenges do the INEC face in its discharge of this onerous responsibility? Three, why has the same electoral infraction repeated at every election circle in the country, without any silver lining on the horizon? Fourth, what options are available to remedy this anomaly? The theoretical framework used is the elitist theory, and the research methodology is predicated on a qualitative data-gathering technique, after which the findings, conclusion and recommendations are put forward.