The leadership of the 9th National Assembly is culpable in the “shameful and unconscionable extortion and exploitation of aspirants by political parties,” a civil society organisation, Adopt A Goal Initiative, has said.
The organisation, in a statement by its Executive Director, Ariyo-Dare Atoye, blamed the National Assembly for removing the provisions in the Electoral Act that put a cap on the cost of nomination forms as passed by its predecessor.
Although the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), did not sign the amended Electoral Bill as passed by the 8th assembly, the group said the exclusion of provisions that prevent political parties from exploiting prospective aspirants was an unwise decision.
Atoye stated, “The leadership of the 8th National Assembly, led by Senator Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, in response to the concerns over election expenses by aspirants and the call for the inclusion of more women and young people in political offices, introduced a cap on the cost of nomination forms.
“The sign was ominous that political parties, instead of prioritising the collection of dues to fund their operations, had made the exploitation of aspirants through nomination and expression of interest forms a major source of financing their activities.
“Unfortunately, the leadership of the 9th National Assembly bowed to the demand of political parties and excluded these essential provisions in the amendment and re-enactment that formed the Electoral Act, 2022.”
On Tuesday, the All Progressives Congress pegged its presidential nomination and expression of interest forms at N100m, explaining that the nomination form would go for N70m, while the expression of interest form would go for N30m.
Atoye, however, stated, “Leadership is critical to nation-building; if we are going to make this democracy serve the people, we must be deliberate in electing leaders who will advance political and electoral reforms for inclusive participation of women and young people.
“It is unfortunate that misguided individuals like the APC Women Leader are saying that any youth who can’t raise N50m shouldn’t be running for President, while some are shamelessly describing it as a separation of men from boys.
“What we are seeing is an odious attempt at state capture by greedy party officials who are arrogantly building a political caste system where the Hoi polloi will have no stake in politics.
“This is a dangerous step to cementing a wholesale criminal enterprise by elements who cannot survive a transparent and competitive politics of ideas, but only monetising the political space.”