Nigerians should be indignant at this treacherous display that seemingly entrenches the discredited ancient regime of money-bag politics and gerontocracy which has for decades gnawed at our democracy.
Smarting from the welter of criticism in the wake of President Muhammadu Buhari’s pardon of two former governors convicted of corrupt practices while in office, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has rambled into another storm. Its decision to collect N100 million from each of its members vying for the presidential ticket of the party for the 2023 election has kicked off new controversy around the meaning of our latest effort at democratic governance.
There are 13 aspirants who have so far declared interest in the race, and therefore, are expected to collectively cough up N1.3 billion. More are likely to join in the days ahead. Assessed against the backdrop of the low and rapidly deteriorating standard of living in the country, this is a humongous amount, which cannot be reasonably justified. Obscenity such as this in our political process must be eviscerated from the system sooner than later, otherwise, the toxic fumes it emits will get worse. The party had at its recent National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja, with the president in attendance, unfurled a raft of fees to be paid by aspirants for all political offices, with N30 million for expression of interest and N70 million for nomination forms, making for a total of N100 million for presidential aspirants, which tops the chart. Other charges for forms include that of the governorship at N50 million per aspirant; that of the Senate at N20 million each; House of Representatives at N10 million; and State Houses of Assembly at N2 million per contestant. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) pegged its presidential form at N40 million per aspirant. While this is lesser than the APC’s, it is still equally repugnant.
Interestingly, the N100 million form currently on sale was obtained for N45 million in 2018 for the 2019 election and N27 million in 2014, ahead of the 2015 presidential contest. The geometric increase in the cost, from all indices available, cannot have been driven by anything other than an incrustation of corruption on our body polity by the APC. Unfortunately, there is no other way of looking at it. Besides, the huge roadblock this action mounts in the path of youth participation in the electoral process should trigger alarm bells. Undoubtedly, given its knock-on effects, the APC cannot deny the fact that the action is a clear erosion or reversal of the gains made by the “Not too Young to Run” crusade, which culminated in the reduction of the minimum age limit for the office of the president, hitherto constitutionally put at 40 years, but now 30 years.
Yet, signing the bill into law strengthened the APC’s bragging rights, with the party advertising this as a turning point in our political process. The president, in signing the bill into law, told the youths gathered from 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory that: “You can aspire for president but please postpone your campaign till after 2019.” In the present circumstances, this amounts to pure pantomime. Clearly, what the APC government gave the youth with the right hand a few years ago, it has just taken away with the left hand. The inherent lesson that seeking elective offices in the land is only for the wealthy is hard to take. Nigerians should be indignant at this treacherous display that seemingly entrenches the discredited ancient regime of money-bag politics and gerontocracy which has for decades gnawed at our democracy.
It is gratifying, however, that one of the victims of this corrupted process, Senator Ken Nnamami, a former president of the Senate has excoriated it. “I believe that the nomination fees that parties ask aspirants to pay for elective offices in Nigeria need rethinking in order to improve the inclusion of youths, women and most Nigerians who earn salaries in an economy that has become distressed,” he said, shortly after his declaration and collection of the forms. He was right in asking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to draw up guidelines for the parties on both the costs of nominations and campaign expenses. Regrettably, there is an extant template or law for the latter, with appropriate penal provisions, which are observed in the breach.
Nevertheless, political parties are public entities that cannot be left entirely in the hands of politicians. It behoves Nigerians, civil society organisations and appropriate state institutions, to keep them in check by ensuring that they operate within the ambit of the regulatory framework in all their activities. This campaign cannot be won by dropping the ball, a process evident in how no party has been sanctioned for varied breaches of party financial regulations. It is on record, for instance, that in the 2008 audit report, most of the major political parties, save the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), had no adequate financial record, as they could neither account for funds recorded nor conduct internal audits.
Weighed down by a fusillade of negative commentaries, APC apparatchiks have been trying to justify their NEC’s decision, emphasising that the N100 million fee will determine how serious an aspirant is; or will free the party from dire financial straits during electioneering. But this rationalisation is patently otiose. A concerned citizen and legal practitioner, Pelumi Olajengbesi, is miffed by the fact that serving ministers, whose salaries in the past seven years were far less than N100 million each, have bought the forms to run for president. He has given a seven-day ultimatum to anti-graft agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other related Offences Commission (ICPC), to investigate the sources of finances of those involved. He has a point. The president, for example, is reported to earn N14.058 million annually, while the salary of the vice-president, Yemi Osinbajo, stands at N12.126 million per annum.
If political parties are often broke, here, and need election periods like this to fleece aspirants to get funds to remain afloat, it is because those who manage their affairs have, since 1999, failed woefully to administer them in keeping with democratic ethos. Everywhere in the world, parties have registers of members, which run into millions, and who pay monthly or annual dues for their day-to-day running. The PDP presidential screening committee in Abuja, headed by Senator David Mark, has demonstrated that this is doable and enforceable when it disqualified two aspirants, one of who was reportedly found wanting in membership status and financial obligation to the party.
This practice should be recommended to all the parties. It is a regimen that should be extended to delegates of party primaries, from ward to council, state and federal levels, henceforth. When this is entrenched in the DNA of parties, it will give them a lifeline and a message to members that there will always be a day each of them will need the party and, of course, judgement. Going forward, the APC nomination forms bazaar should be jettisoned for inclusive participation in our country’s general elections. It is by so doing that public confidence and trust in our democratic processes will be enhanced. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must remain alive to its responsibility in this regard.
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