Salihu Mohammed Lukman, a former national vice chairman (North West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has expressed concern over the escalating cost of expression of interest and nomination forms by political parties in Nigeria. In a statement released on Tuesday, Lukman cautioned that if the trend continues, the APC might charge a whopping N250 million for the expression of interest and nomination forms for presidential aspirants by 2027, and N125 million for governorship aspirants.
Lukman expressed concerns that the APC is “progressively losing the little democratic credentials” which encouraged Nigerians to expect the possibility of a progressive party emerging out of it in 2015.
Lagos Reporters reports that the cost of APC presidential and governorship forms in 2014, ahead of the 2015 general elections, was N27.5 million and N5 million respectively.
In 2019, it increased to N45 million and N22.5 million. It, however, climbed to N100 million and N50 million in 2023, respectively.
Lukman lamented the inability of APC leaders to meet President Bola Tinubu since he assumed office on May 29, 2023.