Section 95
Campaign for election(1) A candidate and his or her party shall campaign for the elections in accordance with such rules and regulations as may be determined by the Commission.
(2) State apparatus including the media shall not be employed to the advantage or disadvantage of any political party or candidate at any election.
(3) Media time shall be allocated equally among the political parties or candidates at similar hours of the day.
(4) At any public electronic media, equal airtime shall be allotted to all political parties or candidates during prime times at similar hours each day, subject to the payment of appropriate fees.
(5) At any public print media, equal coverage and visibility shall be allotted to all political parties.
(6) A person who contravenes subsections (3) and (4) commits an offence and is liable on conviction, in the case of —
(a) a public media, to a fine of N2,000,000 in the first instance and N5,000,000 for subsequent conviction; and
(b) principal officers and other officers of the media house, to a fine of N1,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of six months.
This provision empowers the Commission to set out rules and regulations for candidates and their political parties on how to campaign for the elections. This has been done by INEC via its Guidelines for Political Rallies, Processions and Campaigns.
Under the Guidelines, Parties are to submit to INEC, details of their campaign schedule and list of members of the Organising Committee and Police approval within the jurisdiction of the campaigns not later than 10 days to the commencement of their campaigns.
In this section, unequal allocation of media time among political parties or candidates by media houses is an offence for which the media house and their principal officers can be punished.
Furthermore, State apparatus including the media is not to be used to the advantage or disadvantage of any Political Party or candidate at any election.
The aim of this section is to create a level playing ground for every candidate and political party to canvass for votes from the electorate.
