For aspirants to clinch the ticket of a political party in Nigeria, they would have to spend a lot of money to buy Expression of Interest (EoI) and nomination forms.
Millions of Nigerians have criticised the price tag on several elective positions among the two major political parties in Nigeria: the All Progress Congress and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).
APC, which rode to power on the promise to eradicate poverty and ‘kill corruption before it kills Nigeria’, made its nominations forms exclusively for rich people.
The recent cost of political party tickets for elective positions for the 2023 general elections has shown that the APC nomination forms are more expensive than the PDP.
Nomination forms for 2023 Elections
Below is the latest cost of party nomination forms by the two parties in Nigeria for the 2023 presidential election
| Political Positions | APC | PDP |
| Presidential | NGN100 million | NGN40 million |
| Governorship | NGN50 million | NGN21 million |
| Senate | NGN20 million | NGN3.5 million |
| House Of Representatives | NGN10 million | NGN2.5 million |
| State House Of Assembly | NGN2 million | NGN600,000 |
PDP:
When the PDP nomination forms for the 2023 elections went on sale after the end of the party’s 95th National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Abuja, it said interested party members could obtain the form on March 17, 2022.
The communique which contained the details of the breakdown was signed by the PDP National Spokesperson Debo Ologunagba.
Presidential:
- Expression of Interest (EoI) form: NGN5,000,000
- Nomination form: NGN35,000,000
- Total: NGN40,000,000
Governorship:
- EoI: NGN1,000,000
- Nomination form: NGN20,000,000
- Total: NGN21,000,000
Senate:
- EoI: NGN500,000
- Nomination form: NGN3,000,000
- Total: NGN3,500,000
The communique which contained the details of the breakdown was signed by the PDP National Spokesperson Debo Ologunagba.
Presidential:
- Expression of Interest (EoI) form: NGN5,000,000
- Nomination form: NGN35,000,000
- Total: NGN40,000,000
Governorship:
- EoI: NGN1,000,000
- Nomination form: NGN20,000,000
- Total: NGN21,000,000
Senate:
- EoI: NGN500,000
House of Representatives:
- EoI: NGN500,000
- Nomination form: NGN2,000,000
- Total: NGN2,500,000
House of Assembly:
- Expression of interest: NGN100,000
- Nomination form: NGN500,000
- Total: NGN600K
Special consideration for PDP aspirants:
For PDP youths who are between 25 to 30 years and willing to purchase nomination forms, there is a 50 per cent discount for them across all the elective positions.
APC:
Similarly, the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday, April 20, 2022, announced the sales of its nomination forms for various political offices.
This was made public by the party’s national publicity secretary, Felix Morka, shortly after the 11th National Executive Meeting in Abuja
Presidential aspirant:
- Expression of Interest (EoI) form: NGN30,000,000
- Nomination form: NGN70,000,000
- Total: NGN100,000,000
Governorship:
- EoI: NGN10,000,000
- Nomination form: NGN40,000,000
- Total: NGN50,000,000
Senate:
- EoI: NGN3,000,000
- Nomination form: NGN17,000,000
- Total: NGN20,000,000
House of Representatives:
- EoI: NGN1,000,000
- Nomination form: NGN9,000,000
- Total: NGN10,000,000
House of Assembly:
- Expression of interest: NGN500,000
- Nomination form: NGN1,500,000
- Total: NGN2,000,000
Special consideration for APC aspirants:
For APC female aspirants and Persons with Disabilities (PWD), they are to only purchase the Expression of Interest form while nomination forms are free for them.
For the youths under the party who are 35-year-old and below, they are to buy EoI while they would enjoy 40% discount on the nomination forms.
2019 Elections:
A presidential aspirant for the 2019 election paid NGN45 million under APC while PDP reduced the cost of its form to NGN12 million.
For the 2019 governorship form, APC charged more by collecting NGN22.5 million for aspirants that wanted to hold the party’s broom.
But PDP reduced it from NGN11M to NGN6,000,000
During the 2019 sales of forms, APC enticed women and the physically challenged with a 50% discount for forms for all positions.
PDP, which was struggling at the time to reclaim rulership of Aso Rock Villa made the forms available for female aspirants for free.
Nomination forms in the 2015 elections:
Nomination forms for an aspiring president in 2015 were a bit cheaper compared to what the country experienced in 2019 and 2023 elective posts.
Form for presidential aspirants was sold for NGN22,000,000 by the PDP while the same form went for NGN27.5 million in APC.
For APC governorship aspirants, they bought the form for NGN10,000,000 to vie for elective positions in the 2015 election.
For PDP, the same governorship form was NGN11,000,000
What’s the cost of nomination forms in APGA?
The All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), has also joined the list of exorbitant party nomination forms as aspiring contestants for various political offices in the 2023 general elections, would have to pay through their nose.
Office of the President
- Expression of Interest form: NGN5 million
- Nomination form: NGN20 million
- Total: NGN25, 000,000
A governorship aspirant would have to buy form for NGN15 million; Senate goes for NGN10 million; House of Reps cost NGN7 million while House of Assembly aspirant would have to cough out the sum of NGN2.5 million to show their seriousness to serve their people.
Any Chance For Younger Generation?
The above price tag for the two “juicy” offices doesn’t include the cost of the campaign and mobilisation which even cost more.
Elective positions, no doubt, under the two dominant political parties (PDP) is for the rich.
It isn’t about those who have the idea, but those who have bullion-van-filled money to spend.
Although, President Muhammadu Buhari signed into law, the “Not Too Young To Run” Bill on May 31, 2018, two days after promising to make it law. The Not Too Young To Run Bill was aimed to allow the youth to vie for elective positions.
One of the critics of the APC-led government and a U.S.-based Professor of Journalism, Farooq Kperogi, berated the ruling government for making jest of the Not Too Young To Run Law through it presidential nomination form.
How do you simultaneously tell young ppl that they CAN & CAN’T run for the highest office in the land? Pass a law that says they can (“Not Too Young To Run”) but then raise the fee for the nomination form to N100m. Maybe we need another legislation called “Not Too Poor to Run”
@farooqkperogi
But with the current price tag across the board, aspirants who do not have financial supporters or personal wealth might find it challenging to obtain the nomination form of their political parties.
Recap
| Year | Political Positions | PDP | APC |
| 2015 | Presidential form Governorship | NGN22 million NGN11 million | NGN27.5 million NGN10 million |
| 2019 | Presidential form Governorship | NGN12 million NGN6 million | NGN45 million NGN22.5 million |
| 2023 | Presidential form Governorship Senate House of Reps House Assembly | NGN40 million NGN21 million NGN3.5 million NGN2.5 million NGN600K | NGN100 million NGN50 million NGN20 million NGN10 million NGN2 million |
Money is defining Nigeria’s political system rather than competence. The more poverty increases, the more Nigeria’s insecurity becomes worst, the more nomination fees continue to rise.
Sources:
- Vincent Ufuoma (March 17, 2022). “2023: Presidential aspirants to pay N40 million as PDP begins sale of nomination forms today”. icirnigeria.org. Retrieved April 20, 2022
- Timileyin Omilana (May 31, 2018). “Buhari signs Not Too Young to Run Bill into law”. guardian.ng. Retrieved April 20, 2022