The Socialist Party of Nigeria, SPN, has described the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as political platforms meant only for the rich.
This, the party said, was going by the amount charged for the purchase of the nomination forms for the different political offices.
While PDP charges N12 million for the presidential form, APC charges N45 million.
SPN says it charges no fee for its forms.
In a statement signed by its Acting National Chairperson, Abiodun Bamigboye, and National Secretary, Chinedu Bosah, the party said the high fees for the forms were prohibitive for ordinary Nigerians who might want to contest.
The statement reads in part: “It is not surprising that All Progressives Congress (APC) is charging as high as N45 million as presidential nomination fees while Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is charging N12 million for its nomination fees. Besides, being a betrayal of workers and young people’s desire to play a role in the 2019 general elections, it shows clearly how the mainstream political parties are dominated by the rich.
“Going by their latest outrageously expensive nomination fees, the PDP and APC have proven that they are nothing but exclusive clubs of the rich and corrupt. They cannot serve as political vehicles to redeem Nigeria. Only the Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) which, besides having coherent alternative economic agenda to liberate Nigeria from decades of bondage, does not charge any fee for expression of interest and nomination forms can lead Nigeria to the Promised Land.
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“The nomination fees are part of the highly monetized and corrupt electioneering process aimed at perpetuating the rich and corrupt in power. The exorbitant nomination fees charged are meant to exclude workers and the masses from the political process and only use the masses as cannon folder in their electoral war. This is partly responsible for the emergence of pro-rich politicians in political offices that care less of the masses.
“Election in Nigeria has been converted to a commodity for the highest bidders; politics is the most profitable “business venture” in the country. This is one of the reasons the Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) stands for a political system that makes political offices unprofitable by making political office holders earn the wage of skilled workers commensurate to their qualification and subject all public offices to public control and scrutiny.”
The party said the electoral process had been so monetized that election spending of the pro-rich parties in general elections on nomination fees, campaign funds, vote buying, bribery of security apparatus etc., was over N500 billion.
It said the funds came largely from looted public funds, donations from big business/contractors/politicians that had benefited from juicy/fraudulent contracts and favourable government policies.
