On 20 April 2022, when Nigeria’s ruling party, the APC, announced that it would be selling its presidential forms at N100m ($240,000), the decision sent shock waves across the country with even the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which had sold its presidential form at N40m ($96,000), condemning the move. Editorials written by major local newspapers also censured Nigeria’s ruling party for promoting money politics.
However, the APC insists that it did so in order to separate the contenders from the pretenders. The party argued that with the forms being sold for N100m, the number of aspirants, which was nine at the time, would reduce and only the serious ones would remain in the race. However, this strategy has failed as the number of aspirants has nearly quadrupled.
Declaration galore
Amid demands for the party to reduce the cost of the presidential form, a little known
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