Condemnation has continued to trail the high cost of political parties’ nomination and expression of interest forms, with stakeholders calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to urgently assume its role as the regulator of campaign financing of political parties.
Those who spoke with BD SUNDAY on the development also raised the alarm that depending on donors as well as accessing bank loans for campaign financing was capable of breeding corruption and destroying the nation’s fledgling democracy, if left unchecked.
Before he purchased his party’s form last Thursday, President Goodluck Jonathan had, through his senior special assistant on media, Reuben Abati, told Nigerians that he had received a total of N100.5 million as donation and pledges from persons, groups and communities who offered to assist him to pay for the presidential nomination fee.
It would also be recalled that Muhammadu Buhari, presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said he took a bank loan to finance the purchase of his party’s form.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) pegged the cost of its form at N22 million (presidential) and N11 million (gubernatorial); the All Progressives Congress (APC) charged N27.5 million and N10 million for presidential and gubernatorial, respectively.
The People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) pegged its forms at N25 million for the presidential and N5 million for the gubernatorial.
For the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), the gubernatorial form costs N12 million. The party is not fielding any candidate for the Presidential election, having adopted President Jonathan as its candidate.
The way it is outside Nigeria
A sample survey carried out by the Electoral Knowledge Network, a global online resource for election policy, in September 2013, shows that aspirants for the presidential election in Ghana have to pay 5000 Cedis each (about $2,600), while those in Guinea pay 400,000 GNF each, equivalent to $55,000. In Benin Republic, each candidate pays 15,000,000 CFA francs (about $28,951); refundable if the candidate obtains at least 10 percent of the votes cast in the first round.
Nomination for the presidential election in Burundi costs each candidate 15,000, 000 Burundian francs (about $9,646), refunded if the candidate earns a minimum of 5 percent of the votes in the first round, the survey showed.
In Sierra Leone, it will cost an aspirant 1 million Leones (about $225) to pick a presidential nomination form. Moreover, nomination form for president in Kenya costs each male candidate 20,000 Kshs (about $2236) and women 100,000 Kshs (about $1118).
According to the survey, each of the aspirants for parliamentary elections in Ghana pays 500 Cedis (about $260), while each in Sierra Leone pays 100,000 Leones (about $25).
Similarly, each in South Africa pays 180,000 Rand (about $20,000), while nomination form for Senate in Burundi goes for 400,000 Burundian Francs (about $257) for each candidate.
A top member of the Electoral Commission of South Africa, who was also interviewed by the Electoral Knowledge Network, said that to contest the National Assembly elections (lower house of parliament) parties (not candidates) must pay a deposit of 180,000 South African Rand ($18,000).
However, for the 2014 elections this figure was increased to 200, 000 Rand ($20,000).
Also, a response from Senegal revealed that political parties and candidates participating in legislative elections must pay a deposit of 20 million CFA francs (about $38,626) to participate in elections, which is refundable if the candidate receives 5 percent of votes in the first round.
Parliamentary election in Benin Republic costs each candidate 100,000 CFA Francs (about $193) for nomination, while communal, municipal elections, village and neighbourhood elections cost each candidate 20,000 CFA Francs (about $39).
Regulation of campaign expenses unrealistic – Jonathan
It would be recalled that President Jonathan had in April kicked against regulation of campaign expenses, saying it was unrealistic.
He said this while receiving the report of the National Stakeholders’ Forum on Electoral Reform, headed by Ken Nnamani, former Senate president.
The forum had recommended, among other things, campaign finance regulation, but the President challenged Nigerians to advocate for a realistic and practicable law that would not be “a booby trap” for anyone.
He described election campaign as a very expensive venture in Nigeria, citing the logistics and mobilisation aspects of it. According to him, it is not even possible to monitor campaign expenses, let alone restricting politicians to spending within a budget.
He said: “I’m a realist and I’m a practical person, and that’s why I behave differently. I don’t pretend. I believe that even the laws or even regulations must not be designed in a way that it’ll pretend. In some countries, if you’re getting funds from government, then you must set restrictions, but if you’re generating your own funds, then you have no restrictions.”
The President asked: “If you say a governor must not spend beyond certain amount of money when campaigning, how do you monitor? And sometimes, the figures you put are too unrealistic because if you must campaign, the media is very expensive.”
INEC reacts
Although the Electoral Act of 2010 empowers INEC to regulate the sources and nature of funding for political campaigns in Nigeria, the Commission says it has no powers to check the high cost of nomination and expression of interest fees by parties.
Speaking with BD SUNDAY, Kayode Idowu, chief press secretary to INEC chairman, said it was not within the purview of the Commission to determine what parties charge as nomination fee.
According to him, “the parties have the right to fix their fees; it is entirely party affair.”
Asked if the Commission had any plan to check the ugly development? Idowu said: “I am not very sure if the Commission has any plan in that direction. Actually, it is not within the powers of the Commission to do so.”
The spokesman, who perfectly agreed that the situation was almost becoming a national embarrassment and capable of engendering more corruption in the system since those paying the huge sums were seeing it as an investment that must be recouped someday, said: “I agree entirely with you, but I don’t think the Commission can do anything to check it for now.”
Electoral Act on funding not enforced
A pundit, who blamed what he described as the “excesses of politicians” on the inability of INEC to enforce relevant portions of the Electoral Law, said: “This cost is actually enshrined in our laws. The Electoral Act in 2010 doubled the campaign spending limits in the 2006 Act. Someone running for the Presidency can spend up to N1billion, a governor can spend up to N200 million, N40 million for Senate, N 20 million for House of Representatives, N10 million for State Houses of Assembly and local government, and N1 million for ward councillor.
“Even with these limits, there is no enforcement of them from INEC, which has powers to monitor campaign finance, audit the accounts of political parties, and make that information available to the public, as enshrined in Section 153 of the Constitution, as well as Part 1 of the Third Schedule.”
According to the analyst, “another main danger in money politics is that it becomes an arms’ race. The other party is doing it, so you have to do it too, or risk falling behind. In the run up to the last US elections, Barack Obama initially rejected donations from SuperPACs, groups who were recently allowed to use unlimited funds in support of a presidential candidate by the US Supreme Court, but he later accepted their support because Mitt Romney, his challenger, was already profiting from the organisations which backed him.”
Aspirants react
Joseph Boko, an aspirant for the Benue State House of Assembly, said APC must reduce the cost of its nomination forms so as not to block quality aspirants from contesting.
Boko, who is vying for Kwande Constituency seat, expressed fears that the high cost placed on the nomination forms would exclude most aspirants and affect the party’s chances of winning the 2015 elections.
He said the expression of interest form for the state House of Assembly costs over N600,000, and regretted that many aspirants might not afford it.
“The high cost of nomination forms shows no ideological difference between the APC and the ruling PDP, which has also hiked the cost of forms beyond the reach of its ordinary members,” he said.
By the same token, Chike Maduekwe, a member of APGA in Anambra State and House of Representatives aspirant in the Anaocha, Dunukofia, Njikoka Federal Constituency, called on INEC to check “political parties that have resorted to imposing very high fees on aspirants seeking to purchase nomination forms to run elections, as a ploy to raise money for the parties. The implication of INEC’s failure is that only moneybags will run the entire electoral process.”
Maduekwe, who is an Abuja-based lawyer and co-convener of the Alliance for Integrity in Governance (AIG), said: “The excessive charges imposed by parties on aspirants running for election at various levels, is a recipe for criminalising the electoral process. The cost of the process, at pre-election stage and the electioneering campaigns has scared many decent people from running for election.
“For example, how can the APC charge its presidential aspirant, a non-serving major-general, over N27 million to purchase the party’s nomination forms? The situation is made more disagreeable by the comment of the party’s national chairman that the high cost is designed to separate the men from the boys. This is a call for criminals and those who have not legitimately acquired money to take over politics at the expense of decent people.”
More reactions
In his reaction to the high cost, Fred Agbaje, a Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, said: “How do you expect a member of a party who is genuinely interested in flying the flag of the party to source for such money? It means that if he doesn’t have it, he forgets about his ambition! Only the financial moguls must go for such nomination. And at the end of the day, the parties would have succeeded in halting the ambition of such credible Nigerians because they are not billionaires! Parties’ nomination forms are now being sold to people of low intellect and mediocre, just because they are rich! It is morally outrageous and politically unwise and it calls for questions the integrity of the country’s political leaders. That amount is politically discriminatory.”
Justifying the exorbitant fees, however, John Odigie-Oyegun, national chairman, APC, said it was “to separate the men from the boys.”
Adelaja Odukoya, senior lecturer at the Political Science Department of the University of Lagos, said there had to be an amendment of the Electoral Act to specify the cost of obtaining nomination forms from political parties.
According to Odukoya, the fees being charged for the forms needed to be reviewed downward urgently, stressing that the INEC, as a referee, must brace up to the challenge.
“One of the mandates of INEC is to regulate how politics is played, and one of the things the Electoral Act has actually talked about is the issue of over-monetising the electoral process,” he said.
“So, what I am proposing is that the Electoral Act needs to be amended to stipulate a limit beyond which political parties cannot actually charge people for nomination forms,” Odukoya said, adding that it “has become a ‘cash and carry’ political affair.”
Benjamin Osisioma, one of the very few accountancy professors in the country, recounted how his friend who had an interest in running for Anambra gubernatorial race held in November last year could not do so on account of his inability to raise N12 million imposed on aspirants by the party.
According to Osisioma, who lectures at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Univeristy, Awka, Anambra State, monetising party tickets would always throw up mediocrity.
“Nigerian politicians are yet to set standards that will encourage the best government. I expounded last year that we have a system in this country that will either make you a liar, a cheat or a thief. And resisting these things is like a crime. If you say you won’t do any of these, they get angry. They don’t even want somebody that is honest, somebody who will perform,” he said.
The fears
It is also feared that campaign sponsorship by godfathers and moneybags could result in excessive corruption of public office holders and is capable of making corrupt godfathers see themselves above the law.
A public commentator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Nigeria is toying with a return to the dark days experienced in Anambra State when godfathers held the state hostage.
The analyst said: “What we are seeing now is a situation where moneybags dole out money to sponsor others, not only to buy forms, but to fund their campaign. At the end of the day when those godsons win, the godfathers begin to control the affairs of government from behind the scene. We saw it in Anambra in the days of Governors Chinwoke Mbadinuju and Chris Ngige. I hope Nigeria is not laying a foundation for a return to that ugly past?”
Corruption incorporated?
An America-based Nigerian, SKC Ogbonnia, a Ph.D. holder, has suggested that the country should adopt “full public funding” for elections to avoid over-monetisation of the process.
According to him, “lack of public funding accelerates the engine of corruption in the country. For instance, the corrupt military brigade that funded President Olusegun Obasanjo’s elections enjoyed immunity while he was in office. President Umaru Yar’Adua’s failure to investigate clear cases of corruption by his predecessor and some ex-governors is tied to the source of the funds used in ushering him (Yar’Adua) into power. Ditto President Jonathan, whose party is making matters worse by aggressively soliciting from corrupt politicians, particularly notorious ex-governors currently facing charges for looting state treasuries.’’
Zebulon Agomuo and Odinaka Anudu
