Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has stated that the party would not alter its mind over the $100 million price tag for its presidential nomination forms in 2023.
He went on to say that people who criticize the APC are paid by opposition groups that want to present the ruling party in a negative way.
Senator Adamu further stated that anyone who does not have N100 million, either directly or via support money, has no right to run for President of Nigeria.
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According to Anaedoonline.ng, the APC Chairman made the comments in a Wednesday interview with the Voice of America (VOA) Hausa Service, when he replied to the reaction and public indignation over the party’s price tag for nomination and expression of interest forms for various posts in 2023.
The APC previously announced a total of $100 million for presidential candidates, $50 million for governorship candidates, $20 million for senatorial candidates, $10 million for House of Representatives candidates, and $2 million for state House of Assembly candidates.
Senator Adamu defended the party’s position, saying that anybody dissatisfied with the party’s position or unable to raise the cash may pursue their goals elsewhere, but the APC would not reverse its decision on the price tags.
He compared the presidential candidacy to a race for a motor garage/union chairman or the traditional rulership of a village, saying that only serious-minded people should run for president.
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“If a presidential aspirant cannot mobilize at least ten thousand supporters to raise such amount that person is not a serious contestant,” Mr Adamu said.
“We are talking about the president of Nigeria, not the emir of your town. Now when the emir of your town dies the person seeking to replace him will spend more than N100 million for just one emirate,” he added.
Adamu added that aspirants in developed countries of the world also pay high sums to participate in presidential elections and what APC did in Nigeria is not out of place, only that some people are trying to play politics with the situation.
“For example, someone who is seeking to be president of Nigeria asked 10000 of his supporters each to contribute N10,000 how much will that be. If he lacked supporters to contribute he didn’t deserve to contest, I didn’t want to belittle you because the president of Nigeria is not the chairman of your village motor park.
“If you want to kill a dog you will give him a bad name, there is nothing to compare between seeking to be Nigeria’s president and corruption using the cost of the form.
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“If you can not participate, there is no compulsion, if you don’t have N100m you have no business with becoming president. Tell me which country will not fix reasonable numbers to contest the position of the president? No country that practices democracy like ours will not fix the amount to around N100m. In fact, how much is N100m?
“Even in the recent France election, how much did Macron pay? How much did Le pen pay to participate? How much did president Joe Biden pay in America? How much did former President Donald Trump Pay? This is just an attempt to dent our image, it is the opposition party that is doing that. It will not change our minds or reduce the cost of the nomination form. Anyone that wants to participate let him participate, that is the amount. When I was seeking to be the National Chairman of APC I paid N20 million, and other aspirants paid the same.
“Our party has principles, if you can follow the guidelines you can participate.
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“And another thing is our party is the ruling party, if we fix the amount less, the same opposition can sponsor some people to come and participate before you know court cases will arise everywhere. Let’s see if any devil can pay N100m to sponsor some, the APC National Chairman declared.
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