2023 presidency: Mass exodus looms in APC over N100 million nomination form
For the candidates for which President Muhammadu Buhari signed the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ act into law, driving into Aso Rock on the luxury bus of the ruling party is mission impossible.
The decision of Nigeria’s ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), to peg its presidential nomination forms at N100 million will lead to a mass exit of political hopefuls, we predict.
APC, after its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, effectively put the 2023 presidency, for those vying for the role under the party, out of the reach of the young and the financial lightweight.
Adamu Garba, one of APC’s young presidential aspirant, protested the development.
After the news broke, he tweeted, “100 million for the form. Wow!” He may have to switch to another party if he’s unable to raise funds for the nomination forms.
One candidate that may drop out of the race is Sheikh Abdulafeez Akinola Olasupo, an Islamic cleric who said that God instructed him to join the presidential race.
If his political declaration was a joke, APC’s price tag just turned it to a farce.
Heavyweights like former Lagos governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu are, however, unperturbed as they (or their friends) must have stolen enough money to buy the form, APC critics suggest. Kebbi business mogul and director-general of Tinubu Support Organisation (TSO), Aminu Suleiman, has reportedly signed a N100 million cheque to purchase the form for self-styled APC ‘national leader’.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who was attorney-general under Tinubu, should also be able to afford the form because…your guess is as good as ours. So should former Rivers governor Rotimi Amaechi, Anambra’s Chris Ngige and every politician who has been on the scene for a decade or more.
But for the candidates for which President Muhammadu Buhari signed the ‘Not Too Young To Run’ act into law, driving into Aso Rock on the luxury bus of the ruling party is now mission impossible. Those in this category will either drop out of the presidential race or switch to cheaper platforms.
“Anyone who buys that APC presidential form for N100 million is not coming to work for the masses. He or she is coming to steal,” government critic, Henry Shield, warned on Twitter.
