As the race to the 2023 general elections inches closer, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has disclosed fees for nomination and expression forms for all elective seats.
The party, in a bid to encourage youth participation, magnanimously declared that anyone below the age of 35 would receive a 40 percent cut on the fees.
Point News247 reports that the party also disclosed that female aspirants and Persons Living With Disability (PLWD) would only purchase expression of interest form while nomination form would be free of charge.
It said that any member willing to participate in the presidential primary election would pay N100 million for both the nomination and expression forms while members seeking to vie for the governorship seat on the platform of APC would have to pay the sum of N50 million for both forms.
According to the party, aspirants vying to contest the Senate seat were expected to path with N20 million while the House of Representatives aspirants would be required to pay N10 million to obtain both nomination and express of interest forms.
Also, members of the party aiming to contest for the House of Assembly on platform of the APC would have to pay N2 million before their name would be included in contestants for the primary across the country.
For female and physically challenged persons aspirants, vying for the House of Assembly would pay N500,000, House of Representatives N1 million, Senates N3 million, Governorship N10 million while Presidential was N30 million.
The APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Mouka, announced the fees on Wednesday as well as the timetable for primaries after the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the party in Abuja.
Mouka disclosed that the sale of forms for all elected seats would commence at the party national secretariat on April 23rd, 2022 and that all aspirants would be expected to return the form before Tuesday, May 10th, 2022.
According to him, all aspirants would be screened by the party two days after the closure of form submission to allow proper documentation as well as free and fair exercise.
The spokesperson added that the primary would commence with the governorship on Wednesday 18th, 2022 and closely followed by the State House of Assembly, two days after, Friday, 20th.
“The House of Representatives will hold simultaneously across the country on Sunday, 22nd May , 2022 while the Senate takes place four days in the over 100 senatorial districts. And the last primary is the Presidential and that will hold during a special convention on Monday 30th May”.
Before the briefing by the party’s spokesman, President Muhammadu Buhari presided over an extraordinary emergency meeting of the APC National Executive Committee.
Among those present were Professor Osinbajo, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila; and Governor Fayemi of Ekiti, among other party leaders.
In preparation for the election, the NEC resolved to vest its powers on the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party for the next 90 days. The resolution followed a motion moved by Senator Lawan and seconded by Speaker Gbajabiamila.
Before the decision was taken, APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, informed members that the NWC has begun the process of uniting aggrieved members and discussing the coming elections.
The chairman encouraged them to uphold exemplary behaviours, saying the party’s underlying problem was a crisis fuelled by ego.
Adamu, meanwhile, lamented that ego has widened the gap between the former and serving governors while the party is made to suffer.
According to him, there is no reason for the competition, and it is important for serving governors to work in harmonious and mutual respect with their predecessors, some of whom are now senators.
The national chairman promised that the NWC would deliver, particularly with a united front, and urged members to desist from using the media to settle grievances.