N100m Nomination Form: PDP Accuses APC of Stealing Government Funds for Elections

By Gideon Njoku

The Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), has accused the President Muhammadu Buhari Presidency of allowing the mass looting of public funds to corruptly create a war chest for the APC to intimidate Nigerians and muscle the 2023 general elections.

The PDP was reacting to the embarrassing number of Presidential aspirants who are paying the sum of NI00m, each, to purchase the Expression of Interest and Nomination forms.

At the last count, at least 20 of them have made public their ambition, and are purchasing the forms. They include, surprisingly,  members of the President’s Cabinet and state Governors.

Not a few people are of the impression that the APC has reduced the aspiration to the office of the President to a huge joke. But many are of the strong belief that the APC is, deliberately, hiding under the forms to raise money for the 2023 elections, as indeed, a number of those who purchased the forms know they would never win a Local Government Area Chairmanship election in their States.

The PDP which own forms cost N40m is of this opinion. In a statement on Tuesday, May 10, 2022, signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP called for an investigation into the sources of the funds being paid for the forms, by especially, Ministers,  and accused  the APC Federal Government of a brazen looting of public funds.

Following are excerpts from the statement.

“The PDP alerts that the APC is diverting public funds meant for development purposes and salaries of workers to its coffers by orchestrating the purchase of its Presidential nomination form by all manner of persons at excessive N100 million to warehouse sleaze funds for the elections

“Our Party has information of how public funds are being withdrawn from Ministries, Agencies and Parastatals of government and diverted to people who have no verifiable means of livelihood to purchase APC’s Presidential Nomination and Expression of Interest forms for individuals without any electoral value and who cannot even win Local Government elections.

“We have intelligence on how public funds are pulled out of government Agencies in a surreptitious design perfected by an APC leader in connivance with certain individuals in positions of authority close to top persons in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“Nigerians will recall that the PDP had earlier alerted on how the CBN under Mr. Godwin Emefiele as CBN Governor has been turned into the finance department of the APC where APC leaders fraudulently access public funds through nebulous subsidies, shady intervention programmes and discriminatory exchange policies which perpetuate illegal arbitrage system

“The rejected APC has resorted to this underhand method to corruptly rake in billions of naira from public treasury without consideration for the welfare of Nigerians.

“This APC’s nefarious action is informed by its realization that its leaders cannot make huge donations to the APC coffers as they will be violating the limits of contribution to political parties as stipulated by law and regulation.

“The APC is a sinking ship with ill-fated and inchoate sailors holding on to straw including this shameless attempt to sweep our national treasury. It is regrettable that the APC has shamelessly and soullessly extended their corruption to our electoral process not minding the consequential effect on our democratic system.

“In any case, such shenanigan and criminal pillaging of our treasury cannot prevent the imminent crushing defeat of the APC at the polls in 2023, Nigerians having realized the fraud and life discounting experiences that the APC represents.

“The PDP calls on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Accountant General of the Federation as well as the Auditor General of the Federation to immediately commence investigation and monitor the movement of funds in Ministries,   Department and Agencies of government so as to protect our national treasury from the APC as we approach the 2023 general elections.

“The National Assembly, pursuant to its constitutional duty to expose and prevent corruption should in the interest of Nigerians commence a public investigation into these happenings.”