In what has been criticized for deepening systemic corruption, Nigeria’s ruling APC party last Wednesday pegged the cost of its expression of interest and presidential nomination forms at an exorbitant N100 million, nearly twice the legitimate salaries accrued. of a president for four years.
The cost of the forms is more than the sum of seven years of salaries of a Nigerian president, PREMIUM TIMES checks have shown. A president can serve a maximum of two terms of four years each.
Many Nigerians have asked APC: how do you ask people to apply for a job with a rate higher than salary? Are you inviting them to steal or generate illegitimate income to cover the gap?
The President of Nigeria receives a total salary package of N1.17 million monthly. This sum includes a monthly basic salary of N292,892, a hardship allowance of N146,446 per month and a constant allowance of N732,230 per month, according to the civil servants’ wages regulator, RMAFC.
From basic arithmetic, the annual salary of a President of Nigeria stands at N14.05 million. In seven years, the figure would jump to N98.5 million. In four years, the longest a president can serve unless he is re-elected, cumulative salaries amount to N56.2 million, almost half of what APC asks presidential hopefuls to pay for the country’s top job.
Many Nigerians believe that imposing such exorbitant costs will encourage corruption and become a vehicle for marginalizing and excluding some people from the presidential race altogether.
The cost of the forms is different from the several billion naira that would be incurred by hopefuls to campaign across the country. They fly charter planes and pay high accommodation costs to house their guests and movers.
They also usually pay delegates to the primaries.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office in 2015 on a promise to fight corruption, has kept quiet about the outrageous cost of the forms. He was present when APC NEC decided the rates on Wednesday at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja.
In 2014, Mr Buhari described the N27.5 million tax for the forms as exorbitant and said he had to take out a bank loan to buy his party’s intention form for the presidential race.
The N100 million set for the 2023 presidential intent form is 300 percent higher than what the party raised for the 2015 election.
So far, none of the 10 hopefuls who have declared interest in joining the 2023 presidential race under the CPA have expressed concerns about the cost.
Among those who have declared interest are former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi, and Labor and Productivity Minister Chris Ngige.
Others include Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, his Ebonyi counterpart Dave Umahi, former Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, former Senate President Ken Nnamani, and others.
Nigerians, including civic groups, have condemned APC for “outrageous” prices.
The main opposition party, the PDP, said the prices are “insensitive and mind-boggling”.
The party added that anyone who “purchases the N100m and N50m nomination forms should be investigated for fraud.”
The APC has defended his decision and said Nigerians earn enough money to pay for it. A former party chairman, John Oyegun, once explained that prices are set so high to “separate the men from the boys”.
other positions
On the other hand, the cost of governor forms in the ruling party exceeds the six-year salary of a Nigerian governor.
The APC NEC approved N50 million for nomination and expression of interest forms.
According to RMAFC data, a Nigerian governor takes home 7.8 million naira a year, which consists of a modest base salary plus various sizeable allowances and bonuses.
At 50 million naira, the cost of the APC governor intent form is more than a governor’s six-year annual income of 46.8 million naira.
Similarly, the ruling party is asking for 20 million naira from its members who have expressed interest in senatorial posts.
The cost of the forms is four times the salary package of a Nigerian senator.
campaign spending
Aside from the cost of nomination and expression of interest forms, hopefuls have already started nationwide consultations courting traditional rulers and party stakeholders.
Applicants and their entourage usually travel with a private driver. A single trip on the private jet costs between $10,000 and $17,000, according to Avante fly, a private company that charters private planes.
New campaign spending ceilings have been raised from 150 percent to 400 percent.
The spending cap enacted by President Buhari will now allow presidential candidates to increase their cash collection from the current N1 billion to N5 billion (4 per content increase), while gubernatorial candidates will be able to raise N1 billion the current N200 million. .
Senate candidates are set to be able to legally raise N100 million from the previous N40 million (15% increase), while House candidates will accept N70 million from the current N30 million ( increase of 1 per content). And for the State Assembly, the candidates would be free to shell out N30 million from the previous N10 million (200 percent increase).
One of Africa’s largest think tanks, the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD West Africa), said increments like this can be frozen “the problem of money bag politics” and the highest bidder.
The group also pointed out that it can relegate citizenship with few means and dwarf inclusion in the political process.
Marginalized groups such as women, youth, and people with disabilities would potentially find it more difficult to run for office.
She said her experience has shown that the expensive nature of politics in Nigeria is a major obstacle to the political advancement of women and young candidates.
“Where such high limits are maintained on campaign finance,” the group said, “it is highly likely that the major political parties will be unwilling to nominate individuals deemed incapable of making significant contributions to their campaign or attracting large donations to their campaign. finance the campaign.