by Culled From Nesweekng
Controversy is said to be brewing in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) over the high cost of contesting elections on the party’s platform due to the increase of the expression of interest and nomination forms since its formation in 2014.
The cost of APC presidential and governorship forms in 2014, ahead of the 2015 general elections, was ₦27.5 million and ₦5 million, respectively.
In 2019, it increased to ₦45 million and ₦22.5 million. It, however, climbed to ₦100 million and ₦50 million in 2023, respectively.
A party stalwart have urged the leadership of the ruling APC to make the 2027 contest less expenssive, alleging that despite raking in billions of Naira from the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms before the 2023 elections, the party has failed to give an account of how the money was spent.
In a statement on Tuesday, the former national vice chairman (North West) of the APC, Salihu Mohammed Lukman, lamented the increasing cost of contesting elections in the party.
He expressed fears that by 2027, the APC might charge ₦250 million for expression of interest and nomination forms for the presidency and ₦125 million for the governorship.
According to him, the APC is “progressively losing the little democratic credentials,” which encouraged Nigerians to expect the possibility of a progressive party emerging out of it in 2015.
Reacting to the development, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said, “The issue of cost of forms for next elections is all speculations.”
On his part, a Professor of Political Sociology at the University of Abuja, Kari, however, told reporters that placing high fees has continued in the APC because it is the ruling party.
He also attributed it to the systematic monetization of Nigerian politics and the activities of a select few influential individuals who have hijacked the party.
“The fee for APC has been the highest because it is the ruling party. The underlying assumption is that anybody who gets APC ticket will likely get elected. It is an assumption that may be true. It may not be true,” he said.
Kari stated that if the party leadership can put obstacles on the way to political participation through this constant hiking of the fee for nomination, “you have blocked the very essence of democracy, and that is exactly what is happening. So the regime of high fees is a huge stumbling block on democracy because it stops those who cannot pay from participating.”
