The All Progressives Congress (APC) was on Wednesday condemned for the cost of its expression of interest and nomination forms for aspirants in its scheduled primaries into various elective positions for the 2023 general elections.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party fixed the cost of its presidential expression of interest and nomination forms at N100 million. For the governorship ticket, it approved N50 million for both nomination and expression of interest forms, while Senate and House of Representatives aspirants are to pay N20 million and N10 million, respectively.
Aspirants for state legislative seats are to pay N2 million for both forms.
The party approved a 50 percent discount for candidates less than 40 years and free tickets for women and persons living with disabilities. In 2018, APC’s presidential form went for N45 million.
Femi Aborisade, a lawyer and labour rights activist, said the sale of forms for those contesting the office of the president fixed at N100 million by APC and that of the PDP for N40 million shows that participation in the electoral process is business from which the winners would hope to earn profits in terms of looting public vault, saying it is never about selfless service to the society.
“It is also an exclusionary policy by which only the wealthy can participate while ordinary working class persons, lecturers, professors, who have the idea are excluded on the basis that they lack the financial muscle to purchase the form”, he said.
He added that the high rate of purchase of the presidential form fixed at N100 million by APC aspirants is also a contravention of Section 90(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, which provides that a political party shall not accept any monetary or other contribution which is more than N50 million “unless it can identify the source of the money or other contribution to the commission”.
Aborisade further said that the N100 million presidential form of the APC also shows that the party is lawless.
“It is unfortunate that a party controlling the Federal Government of Nigeria would elect to be brazenly lawless, as demonstrated in this singular policy of sale of presidential form for N100 million”, he said.
Lagos-based lawyer and human rights activist, Mr. Kabir Akingbolu, in his view said that the implication of such amount for presidential candidates to buy form is so clear because when you monetise the form, you are only asking them to steal when you get to the post of leadership.
“It is so unfortunate and it is uncalled for and it only means that an upright person cannot get to the leadership position because I don’t know how many businessmen that can use such amount of money to buy form when they are not even sure of winning.
“They are clamoring for young people to run for the presidential post, how can they afford such amount of money and even if they sponsor him and pay for the form, it means he will be dancing to their tune when he gets there.
“They may probably be saying that they are using the huge sum to discourage people from vying for the post but even at that it is not ideal.
“Democracy is now for the highest bidders and the people who are well to do. It is out of reach for the poor and that means democracy is only for the rich.”
Human rights and maritime lawyer, Barrister Debo Adeleke, said that it is most unfortunate that Nigerian politicians are behaving as if they live in a different planet.
“They are totally unconcerned with what the county is going through now economically.
The country is gradually going into disintegration and total collapse but they still think things are normal.
It is highly inconsiderable, when we are thinking there might be hope by way of getting another leader that will move the country forward, but they are forcing an unpopular candidate on Nigerians by this action of theirs.
“How can they say an expression of interest form that used to be N5 million is now N30 million and the real form jumped from N40 million to N70 million? What is the justification for that? If you ask me, I will tell you that they have no love for the people at heart.
The form is now for the highest bidder. Most of the senators today could not buy a plot of land but as soon as they get to the post, they become so rich because of the money they stole.
“It further shows that the leadership position is not for the principled, disciplined, educated and those who have good conscience. What they are saying is that it is for the people who have money.
It is sheer madness, what type of work will a man do that will make him to buy a form of N100 million? This development is an insult to the institution called Nigeria.
“It is an indication that it is not for the people that has the interest of the country at heart. It is a shame.
They will push us to a stage that there will be no escape route and the bubbles will burst.
“We are at the height of a cliff and the bubble can burst any moment. They are insensitive to the plight of Nigeria and the EFCC is looking the other way, convicting those who are stealing small money when those people who are actually looting the country are left alone.
If all the aspirants are meant to be subjected to security check, I am sure none of them can pass the test.
“We are now going backward politically every day, we are far from the promised land and the country might crash land soon.”
Malachy Ugwumadu, a lawyer and former President of Committee for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), said that the sale of presidential ticket forms at exorbitant prices by political parties have turned them into vehicles for revenue generation. He said, “It is a known fact that elections all over the world attract heavy spending, however, in those other climes and environment where heavy funding is needed they are usually deployed towards campaign slogans, advertorial, campaign sensitisation and general publicity around the core mandates and manifestoes, either of the contestants or the political parties.
“What has become unfortunate in respect to our situation is that political parties now see it as an avenue to raise funds and this resonates and speaks wrongly to Nigerian people because in so many respects it tilts more to revenue generation than communication of the manifestoes of the respective political parties.
“The very unfortunate aspect of this development is that most of the political parties are rooting for consensus candidates.”
Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA) called for the arrest and investigation of any aspirant that purchased the APC presidential form.
The rights group said the citizens must demand accountability now or remain enslaved by the higher bidder who purchases the seat of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Convener of the association, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a strong rebuke of the APC leadership said the party is displaying all tendencies of a secret cult, pointing out that only kidnappers, drug dealers and treasury looters can afford to buy form from the party.
“HURIWA has condemned the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for displaying tendencies of a secret cult fraternity or a cartel by pegging at N100 million the fees to buy presidential nomination form for 2023 poll.”
HURIWA said any citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in good standing with the laws should arrest those persons buying these forms at N100 million each, noting that it is inconceivable that a citizen of Nigeria who made his money through legitimate means can afford to fritter away the princely sum of N100 million just because he/she wants to put himself out to become the servant of the people of Nigeria.
HURIWA argues that only political rogues, drug peddling gangsters or persons involved in armed robbery or kidnappings for ransom can afford to gamble away such a lifelong fortune.
The right group said anyone who buys the nomination form at such a scandalous high amount of cash, should first be arrested by the citizens if possible under the law permitting citizen’s arrest so such a person is handed over to law enforcement agencies such as EFCC or ICPC or Police for investigation on the source of the money.
“We only just finished carpeting opposition Peoples Democratic Party for bastardising the process of nominating its presidential candidate by inflating the cost of nomination form to a princely sum of N40 million, little did we know that the politicians who run the Federal Government and have ruined the national economy will peg theirs at the extravagant cost of N100 million just to spite the opposition politicians and to make fun at Nigerians as captives who as hostages of politicians can’t do nothing to checkmate this rascality of the political forces.
“This same APC government is unable to meet the funding obligations for federal universities and thereby have left millions of students of public schools to roam around in their homes due to industrial strike by university teachers (ASUU) since over two months, yet the politicians have hidden enough stolen cash to buy presidential form at N100 million each.”
Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), Executive Director, CISLAC/Chairman, Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), in a statement on Wednesday, said, “A key question to ask is, who can legally afford N100 million for a presidential ambition?” He said this despicable decision by the APC begs this question as it only serves within the following contexts, to marginalise youths, women and average citizens.
“It is even more sickening that the electoral process has been reduced to a commercial sport of sorts as eligibility for candidacy has strictly been reserved for the party money bags.
This is an intentional decision to automatically filter out the non-elite and leave the floor open for the same set of politicians and their beneficiaries who have bled the nation thus far.
This commercial exercise will further dampen the hopes of the nation in achieving true democracy.
“After all, the whole idea of democracy is the free will of the people in electing their political leaders, and where such ‘free will’ is manipulated through financial hurdles such as this, the country is further pulled away from the attainment of the best democratic policies.
The president needs to recuse himself from this decision as it runs contrary to any suggestion that he desires a true democracy where the people can elect their leaders irrespective of their financial status and that he meant well in signing the Electoral Bill into law in the spirit of political fairness and equity”, he said.
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