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The monetisation of the Nigerian politics would be a key drawback on the intended gains from Not Too Young To Run law recently signed by the President Buhari, analysts have said.
Those who spoke to BusinessDay submit that although the Act, which reduces the age qualification for some elective positions in the country, will encourage young Nigerians to contest for elective offices, monetisation of the process would be a disincentive to young politicians.
Others are of the opinion that the huge financial limits prescribed in the 2010 Electoral Act Bill for candidates as well as the amendment bill for aspirants will promote ‘godfatherism’.
“Certainly in politics, money must be there. This is one truth we have to tell ourselves. It is a bitter bill but we have to swallow it. Because for you to contest, even if you are not contesting under any party, you need to print t-shirts, fez caps, handbills, billboards and so on. So, there is no way you can do (better) in politics and money will not be there,” PDP National Youth Leader, Udeh Okoye, while admitting the prime place money occupies in politics.
The Youth Leader, however, revealed that the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) is on the verge of approving a proposal that gives concession to youths vying under its platform.
The new law signed by President Muhammadu Buhari recently, alters Sections 65, 106, 131 and 177 of the 1999 Constitution and reduces the age qualification for some elective positions in the country.
Specifically, it lowers the constitutional age limits for the office of the President from 40 to 35 years; House of Representatives from 30 to 25 and House of Assembly from 30 to 25.
However, the age limits for senators and governors were both retained at the age of 35 years.
Analysts have, however, raised concerns about the provisions in the 2010 Electoral Act, which fixes campaign expenditures of party candidates. For instance, the 2010 Electoral Act puts the campaign limits of presidential, governorship and senatorial candidates at N1 billion, N200million and N40million respectively, while that of House of Representatives and State Assembly go for N20million and N10 million in that regard.
However, in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill currently before the National Assembly, some of the elections spending limits were increased by between 150 to 900 percent.
Lawmakers jerked upwards the maximum election expenses to be incurred by candidates as follows: Presidential candidate from N1 billion to N5 billion; Governorship candidate from N200million to N1 billion; Senatorial candidate from N40 million to N100 million; House of Representatives from N40 million to N70 million and State Assembly candidates from N10 million to N30 million. The proposal also prescribes limits for aspirants for elective offices as follows: N150,000 for a ward councillorship aspirant in the FCT; N250,000 for an area council chairmanship aspirant in the FCT; N500,000 for a house of assembly aspirant; N1 million for a House of Representatives aspirant; N2 million for a senatorial aspirant; N5 million for a governorship aspirant and N10 million for a presidential aspirant.
In an interview with BusinessDay, Convener of YesWeFit Revolutionary Movement, Thomas-Wilson Ikubese likened the scenario to moving a treasure from the third floor of a high-rise building to the second floor, with no staircase or ladder.
Ikubese who is also a presidential aspirant on the platform of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), advocated for drastic reduction of cost of nomination forms to make it affordable for the average Nigerian youth.
“Now that the age of contesting election has been reduced, of what benefit is it to youths who cannot raise the required sum to pick up nomination forms?” the medical doctor-turned politician asked.
He therefore urged lawmakers to reduce the cost of nomination forms for aspirants as follows: Presidential N300,000, Gubernatorial N200,000, Senate N100,000, House of Representatives N75,000 and House of Assembly N50,000.
He said: “With this proposed reduction in the cost of nomination forms, more credible young people will be able to come on board, while the political parties will still be able to generate a lot of money from sales of forms because of the large number of aspirants who will come on board.
“With the current cost of nomination forms, Nigerian youths will have to wait till African parrots begin to grow teeth! Until the cost of nomination forms is significantly reduced to what an average Nigerian youth can afford, the Not Too Young To Run law is nothing but a joke on Nigerian youths”.
But the Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Clement Nwankwo, said the move is a right step in the right direction, considering the fact that in the buildup to the 2015 general elections, some political parties sold presidential nomination forms for as much as N25 million.
“The Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill that is being proposed is actually reducing the amounts and prohibiting the charging of any additional fees for aspirants. So, I think it helps everybody. Women are saying that the amount they are being required to pay is not justifiable, people who are not also as wealthy are also saying the same thing. So, the key thing is that the proposals in the Electoral Act Amendment is actually reducing the amount of monies that parties should charge aspirants to buy forms and participate in their primaries,” he told BusinessDay.
Also speaking, the Executive Director, New Initiative for Social Development, Oyeleye Abiodun called on civil society organisations to engage in more advocacy, which would lead to drastic reduction of nomination fees prescribed in the Electoral Act.
“It’s like giving a property to somebody and also taking it back from behind. I think there is still need for more advocacy to meet and lobby in the National Assembly. Because now we just got the bill signed into law but civil societies don’t need to rest. We need to clear some of these points. Even the age of senators and governors that were retained is also very critical. But at least one step after the other. It is not yet uhuru. We still need to work more so that we can have clarity in these overlapping bills and laws,” he said.
