According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties are to commence campaign publicly, ninety (90) days before Election, and end it 24 hours to the Election day; a policy which many suggest does not avail new candidate enough time to familiarise with electorates.
Section 99 (1-3) of the Electoral Act says: “For the purpose of this Act, the period of campaigning in public by every political party shall commence 90 days before polling day and end 24 hours prior to that day.”
While revealing the timetable for the 2019 General Elections, INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, announced that the Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on the same day on February 16, 2019, while the Governorship and State Assembly Elections will also hold the same day on March 2, two weeks after the Presidential Election.
This means campaigns by political parties for Presidential Election and NASS elections would commence on November 18 and end on January 14, 2019; while that of Governorship and State Houses of Assembly would start on December 1 and end on February 28, 2019.
While the time-frame might seem short in Nigeria, some countries have shorter time of campaign before Election Day.
In France, Presidential campaign is just two-weeks preceding the first ballot and, if necessary, the week between the two ballots, while in the case of elections to the National Assembly, the campaign opens twenty days before the date of the first ballot.
In Australia, federal election campaigns are traditionally approximately six weeks and voting is compulsory for all Australian citizens above the age of eighteen.
Mexico provides a rather equal approach by stating under it electoral reform that all broadcast outlets will be required to provide 48 minutes each day free to political campaigns which will be divided among legally registered political parties based on their share of the vote in the most recent election.
Presidential campaign was also shortened from 186 days to 90 days, while in Argentina, advertisements can begin only 60 days before the election and the official campaign itself can start only 25 days after that.
The United States of America has the longest campaign season, an individual can start his campaign as early as almost 600 days before the election.
Before the 2016 Elections in the US, the first candidate to jump into the Presidential race, Ted Cruz, announced his candidacy on March 23, 2015; 596 days before the Election Day.
In the country’s early days, members of Congress chose the Presidential nominees. By the mid-19th century, the process had moved to back-room wrangling at national party conventions, generally held in June of an election year.
John F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for President on January 2, 1960, 11 months before the general election. Between March 8 and June 7 of that year, only 16 states held Democratic primaries, and Mr Kennedy entered and won seven of them.
The long run has not always been like that until 1975 when Jimmy Carter decided to jump-start his Iowa campaign.
That helped lead other candidates into the early race as well.
One of the major factors contributing to US long season of campaign is the availability of funds at aspirant’s disposal.
A candidate can’t keep advertising for a year and a half, for example, without millions of dollars at his or her disposal. The U.S. system essentially requires candidates to raise millions of dollars to even mount a serious run.
In Nigeria, the 2019 Elections have seen young but politically inexperienced youth, vying for Presidency.
Fela Durotoye, Adamu Garba, Omoyele Sowore and Professor Kingsley Moghalu are part of those that have declared intention to become Nigeria’s number one citizen.
Durotoye might be known for his oratory skills and various leadership programmes he had organised, not much can be said about him beyond that.
Many opined he does not have “political experience”, nor affiliations with the “big” political party prior to his declaration, yet he has just three months to campaign and win the hearts of electorates so as to get their votes.
Eyeing the highest political office in Nigeria makes it more challenging as he needs recognition, not just in the Country, but beyond.
Sowore is the founder of Sahara Reporters; a controversial and critically acclaimed citizen journalism news Media.
While his News Media was initially not based in Nigeria, Sowore had his secondary and tertiary education in the Country and was a Union Leader in his University days; a position he believes gives him the qualification to rule the most populous black nation in Africa.
Apart from SR, which he can use to his advantage, he is not known well enough in the nooks and cranny of Nigeria, and establishing himself as the right man for the President requires even more than what is obtained in America.
Another Presidential hopeful is Kingsley Moghalu; former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
He had said the trend was shifting globally and Nigeria would not be an exception, insisting that what happened in America, being the emergence of Barrack Obama and Emmanuel Macron of France, among others, were signs that it could happen in the country.
Just like the previous two, Moghalu had no previous stints in politics and governance except his spell as CBN Deputy Governor.
While the three are qualified in terms of age, influence and popularity is at their disadvantage.
Does short elections campaign favour the rich and influential?
A short election campaign period may create a level playing ground as a wealth Aspirant cannot run Ads for 500 days before a not so wealthy one, even if he has the money. The short time given for campaign coupled with regulations and the need to be balance may make all aspirants get close to the same shot at media coverage. But campaigns are more than media coverage. A wealthy Aspirant is most likely more known while others will need more time to penetrate.
Urgent cash may also not be available to others, but it could also be argued that the short election campaign period is good buffer time for the poorer Aspirants to mobilize cash, although donors and campaign dinners are not common in Nigeria.
Wealthy aspirants are also in the habit of starting their campaigns with philanthropy and across the Nation visitations without expressly asking for vote. A move that younger and less wealthy Aspirants can not afford.
