Nigeria’s parliament has passed a law capping campaign spending for next year’s elections.

The following limits have been set:

Presidential candidates: $14m (£11m)

Gubernatorial candidates: $3m

Senate candidates: $700,000

House of Representatives candidates: $280,000.

The Electoral Act also stipulates how electronic card readers, used for the accreditation of voters at polling stations, should work.

The BBC’s Aliyu Tanko in Lagos says this is seen as a move to address the malpractices that have characterised previous elections. Card readers were used at some polling stations during the last elections, but there have been worries about them functioning in rural areas where power shortages can be an issue.

It will be mandatory to use them now and the law says that should a card reader fail and a new one not be deployed within three hours, the election at that polling station should be cancelled and held within 24 hours.