When the All Progressive Congress (APC) announced they had placed a N100m fee on presidential nomination forms, the decision faced immediate criticism.
Especially given the current state of the Nigerian economy. When President Buhari ran for the office of the President in 2015, he complained about the then N10m fee for the form. In 2019, when the President contested for a second time, the APC nomination form was valued at N45m. So a N100m fee does seem outrageous.
To contest in the APC Presidential primaries, a candidate would require both the nomination form and an expression of interest form. The nomination form goes for N70 million while an expression of interest form goes for N30 million.
However, it doesn’t seem like the party thinks so too.
The APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka in an interview with Channels said, “We still live in a country where there are people who make legitimate money.
“The party is not for the rich. I just told you that for instance, any woman who wants to run for the office of the President is not paying the full amount. The youths as well.”
READ MORE: APC Set 2023 Presidential Nomination Form at N100m
When he was asked about the how the party ended up with the figure and if they got any advice, he said the party gave the party advice.
He said,
“The party advised the party.”
“APC isn’t for the rich. Things are not perfect economically. They are not perfect anywhere. The party made a decision that the value put on these forms are justified.”
“But youths who are within 25 to 40 also have the advantage of a 50 percent discount for all positions, even the office of the President. We receive that nomination form you talk about at 50%. So, they’ll pay the expression of interest, plus 50 percent of the N70m.”
However, a nomination form for the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is set at N40m.
