Victor Ezeja
The N100 million price for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential form for the 2023 election has generated reactions from Nigerians who question the principle of inclusivity in the party in terms of emergence of candidates.
Speaking Channels TV SunriseDaily talk show, Former Abuja Bureau Chief of The Guardian, Igho Akeregha, said APC has turned itself into an elitist party and do not care about deepening democracy and making the process of emergence of candidates very inclusive.
Akeregha stated this while reacting to the prices for nomination forms of the APC which are considered too high.
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The rulling party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) on Tuesday approved N100 million for presidential nomination forms.
Prime Business Africa had Exclusively reported that the National Working Committee (NWC) proposed a fee of N100 million for president, N50 million for governorship, N20 million for Senate, House of Representatives N10 million and State House of Assembly N2 million.
This is against N45 million which the forms were sold in 2018 ahead of the 2019 elections, making the price rise by over 100 per cent. NEC disclosed that sale of the forms will begin on April 23 and end on May 6, 2022.
Mr. Igho noted that the high price of the APC nomination forms would prevent progressive-minded individuals who do not have the resources to emerge as candidate, and pointed out that such measure is not only non-inclusive but would negatively affect the quality of candidates that will emerge as the party’s flag bearers.
He said “I don’t know where young patriotic Nigerians who aspires to lead the country would find that kind of money to run for election. That is just to buy the form. We are not even taking about Political structures across the country, mobilizing voters and all other activities in the electoral process.”
National Women leader of the APC, Dr. Betta Edu, however, while speaking as guest at Arise News Morning Show on Thursday, said the decision to fix prices of the nomination forms at such rate is to ensure that only people with deep commitment to the party throw their hart into the ring for the race in the 2023 elections.
Dr. Edu stated that party members’ level of financial commitment counts, noting that aspirants for the presidential position must have access to not less than N50 million.
Adamu Garba APC presidential aspirants, said selection of candidates should be based on quality not on the size of their pockets.
“Once you financialize everything, you are making it difficult for the right people to emerge.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
