A former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Lai Olurode has on Sunday, in Lagos, said that President Muhammadu Buhari should have rejected the N45m approved by the All Progressives Congress, APC, as cost of presidential nomination form.
At the annual national conference of Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, MSSN, Lagos Area Unit, he said the form is not only costly but has shut out other aspirants especially the youths who would not be able to afford the nomination form.
Speaking on the theme; “Youth Leadership and Governance”, and on the
sidelines of the conference, the former INEC Commissioner, a Sociologist with the University of Lagos, expressed dismay at the high cost of nomination form by political parties, saying it discourages mass participation in the process.
His words, “APC is selling presidential form for N45m. I would have expected Mr. President to kick against that, that is his party. That is not good enough to the rest of the society.
“That is a wrong way of opening up the political system. The political space is still restricted, definitely there is no youth that can go, not to talk of the money that you need to even do campaign. So before you know it, we are all in the hands of moneybags and wherever money dictates, you cannot have development”.
