The Congress of all progressives (APC), on Tuesday, began the sale of Expression of Interest and Nomination forms for applicants seeking various elective positions in the upcoming 2023 General Election.
The party’s national organization secretary, Sulaiman Argungu, at the beginning of the exercise, submitted forms and guidelines to Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State and Ita Solomon Enang, former Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Niger Delta Affairs.
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reports that Messrs. Lalong and Enang are vying for the Plateau South Senate and Akwa Ibom Governorate in the 2023 elections, respectively.
The Plateau Legacy Group led by Yusuf Gagdi compiled the forms and guidelines on behalf of Mr. Lalong.
Mr. Argungu, while promising a seamless and transparent exercise, assured applicants of proper forms and said there would be no backlog of forms.
Mr. Enang, while speaking to reporters after choosing the forms, expressed his happiness and said that he is ready to serve his people and enthrone development if he is elected as the next governor of Akwa Ibom.
“I feel very elated to choose the gubernatorial way to contest the gubernatorial election on the APC platform in Akwa Ibom,” he said.
He said that there was no faction in the Akwa Ibom APC chapter as alleged.
According to him, all interests have collapsed into one family and the family is APC under the leadership of Mr. Buhari and the national chairman of the party.
“What remains is to fix the end, we will fix and enter the nomination as a united family in a place that dates a candidate.
“One winner for each of the elections for Governor, Senator, House of Representatives and House of Assembly, and we will come out strong and capable,” he said.
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Enang, a former senator, said that if Akwa Ibom is elected as the next governor in 2023, it will bring accountability and change the narrative in the state.
He said he would also ensure better internally generated revenue in the state and its development by working with the federal government.
He said he would give attention to agriculture, education and declare an emergency on youth development and human infrastructure development.
The APC NEC, at its meeting on April 20, set the nomination and expression of interest forms at N100 million.
For the governorship, NEC approved N50 million for both the nomination and expression of interest, while the candidates for the Senate and House of Representatives will pay N20 million and N10 million respectively.
Those for state legislative seats are paying N2 million for both ways.
The start of the form sale was initially scheduled for April 23, but was later changed to April 26.
The party’s national secretariat, located at Blantyre Street, Wuse2 Abuja, has become a hive of activity as party members and hopefuls come and go from the secretariat every day.
(YAYA)