Presidential poll: PDP spent N2.5bn on adverts, APC N728m – Report

A report by Compliance and Content Monitoring Ltd (CCM) has revealed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Party (APC) spent a combined N3.23 billion on political campaign advertisements for this year’s general elections.

There has been so much talk about how much was spent on advertising before the last general elections in Nigeria but no one could say for sure how much was spent.

However, according to the report, PDP spent about N2.5 billion (77 percent) while APC spent N728 million (23 percent).

CCM said the media advertisements were placed on radio, television, press and billboards for the PDP and the APC presidential campaigns between December 2014 and March.

The report was unveiled after a thorough analysis of over 260 broadcast media (radio and television), 48 print (newspapers and magazines) media and over 1,000 outdoor billboards across the country.

The firm focused on the two main parties, taking into cognisance the nation’s geographical zones, the advertising campaigns of the different political parties, individuals and groups in support of the presidential candidates.

The Managing Director of CCM Limited, Mr. Tunde Onadele, who spoke at the unveiling of the report, said about 253 creative materials were deployed across radio and television channels in all the 260+ stations monitored by CCM, with PDP utilising 145 materials. APC deployed 107 materials.

The split across media platforms showed that the two parties utilised mostly television and press platforms for over 85 percent of total campaign spending.

The report highlighted that gross media rates were used in CCM’s calculations and the data across the monitored stations account for about 85 percent of the national coverage.