Irked by the humongous cost of governorship nomination forms, the opposition Action Democratic Party (ADP) has accused the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of unrightly encouraging money politics in the country.
ADP fault the two major parties over on their decision to slam N22million on governorship aspirants for their parties’ tickets for the forthcoming Bayelsa and Kogi governorship poll, emphasizing on the fact that the high cost was clearly a ploy by the parties aimed at denying competent and credible individuals with genuine intentions the opportunity to participate in the gubernatorial race.
According to the party’s national chairman, Engr Yabagi Yusuf Sani, who spoke to reporters in Abuja, the charges for expression of interest and Nomination forms as clearly exorbitant negates the principles of fairness and level playing ground for prospective aspirants in the aforementioned states.
Sani described the charges as an affront against participatory democracy, contending that it was a pre-determined plan to favor the highest bidder and sacrifice competence for mediocrity by promoting money politics, impunity, and corruption.
The ADP national chairman enjoined all credible men and women of impeccable character, integrity, and wisdom whose ambition has been truncated ab-initio by both APC and PDP to join the ADP and obtain its nomination and expression of interest forms at the cost of N7.7 million.
His words: “The ADP assures all interested aspirants who intend to run under our platform a level playing ground during the governorship elections in both Kogi and Bayelsa states, provided it is within the ambit of our laws and extant rules. This is irrespective of gender, class, and hegemony.
“Our platform is open and available to all aspirants who have exhibited pragmatism and can provide credible leadership in all the states of Nigeria. It is my pleasure to inform you that the ADP’s Expression of Interest and Nomination forms are available at very affordable rates and can be obtained here at the national headquarters of the party.”
