The Ven TOCHUKWU SAGACIOUS IKEZUE CONDEMNS THE EXORBITANT SALE OF NOMINATION FORMS BY POLITICAL PARTIES AS AN AFFRONT TO DEMOCRACY AND THE WILL OF THE NIGERIAN PEOPLE
The exorbitant prices being placed on nomination and expression of interest forms by Nigeria’s major political parties have reached a scandalous and indefensible level.
We particularly call out the All Progressives Congress (APC) for setting their Presidential form at ₦200 million, the Gubernatorial form at ₦150 million, and the Senatorial form at ₦100 million, House of Representatives at N70million amongst others.
These figures are not merely high; they constitute a brazen commercialization of public office and a direct assault on the fundamental principles of democracy.
No responsible democracy should turn the right to contest for leadership into a privilege reserved exclusively for the super-rich and their financial godfathers. When political parties demand sums that dwarf the annual budgets of many local governments and exceed the lifetime earnings of millions of hardworking Nigerians, they effectively shut the gates of leadership against competent, visionary, and patriotic citizens who lack access to such staggering amounts.
This is not party politics; it is political exclusion and economic discrimination against the Nigerian people.
These outrageous fees promote money-bag politics, entrench god-fatherism, and guarantee that only those who can afford to “buy” tickets will emerge as candidates. The inevitable consequence is the continued recycling of recycled politicians and the deepening of bad governance, corruption, and poverty. A political party that places the price of a Presidential form at ₦200 million has, by that single decision, told the ordinary Nigerian that leadership is no longer a call to service but a lucrative business transaction.
We strongly condemn this dangerous trend across all political parties that have joined the race to monetize democracy. Leadership is not for sale. Public office is not an auction. The right to aspire to serve one’s country must never be determined by the size of one’s bank account.
We therefore demand that:
- The APC and all other political parties immediately and drastically reduce these nomination fees to reasonable, affordable, and inclusive levels.
- The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and relevant regulatory authorities should take urgent steps to check this anti-democratic practice that undermines the spirit of the Constitution.
- All well-meaning Nigerians, civil society organizations, religious bodies, and the youth must reject any political party that continues to place such prohibitive barriers before the people’s right to choose their leaders.
The people of Nigeria deserve better. Democracy must remain the government of the people, by the people, and for the people not the government of the highest bidders.
We shall continue to speak truth to power and stand on the side of the ordinary Nigerian whose voice must not be drowned out by the clinking of coins in the corridors of power.
Ven. Tochukwu Sagacious Ikezue
