Prominent Civil rights advocacy group- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has told the national hierarchy of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to shut up and cover their faces in unmitigated shame and opprobrium for trying to create phantom JUSTIFICATION for why the All Progressives Congress has pegged her nomination fee and expression of interest form to contest to be the Presidential Candidate of the ruling Paryy in the 2023 polls at N100 million.
HURIWA said the All Progressives Congress must be made up of leaders that have lost touch with realities and bent on selling their Presidential ticket to the highest bidder no matter how roguish or criminal way the person may have raised the exorbitant cost of the Presidential nomination fees for aspirants just as the Rights group has asked the National Publicity Secretary of the APC to shut up and stop celebrating his ignorance in trying to buy credibility for the criminal decision of his party to peg the Presidential nomination fees at N100 when the combined total of the salaries of Professor Yemi Osinbanjo for eight years is not near enough that amount. “NO decent businessman can fritter N100 million on a project he is only going to compete with others and may not enjoy the right of refunds. Only drug barons and armed robbers can run for the Presidency under the All Progressives Congress.
HURIWA stated that the All Progressives Congress, APC, National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka had said that the ruling party advised itself on the price tags on its nomination forms. It was reported yesterday that the APC fixed the presidential nomination form for N100m.
The Rights group recalled that the APC announced on Wednesday that the party’s forms for Presidential ticket will be sold at N100 million, governorship N50 million; Senate, N20 million; House of Representatives, N10 million and State Houses of Assembly, N2 million.
HURIWA said: ” We beg of the grossly disrespectful PRO of the APC to stop insulting the psyche and intelligence of Nigerians by trying to provide fallacious justification for this I’ll advised decision of his party. To tell you that APC is behaving like a political gathering of daylight robbers, they are making N100 million look cheap when a Permanent Secretary in a civil service may need two life times to gross that amount as legitimate salaries. How could have insulted Nigerians in such a fashion because when asked if the price tag was in line with the present economic situation in the country, the APC Spokesperson, in an interview with Channels Television, said, “What is the current situation in the country? We still live in a country where there are people who make legitimate money.”And on whether the party is for the rich, he said, “The party is not for the rich. I just told you that for instance, any woman who wants to run for the office of the President is not paying the full amount. The youths as well.”When asked who advised the party on the price tags, he said, “The party advised the party. The party thinks that…and made the decision that the value put on these forms are justified.”
HURIWA dismissed the ruling party’s mouthpiece’s effort to try to mitigate the ethical damage and the credibility crisis that the fixing of the exorbitant cost of the Presidential nomination fees has caused his party by saying youths and the physically challenged are not expected to pay close to the high fees of N100 million, the Civil Society Organization HURIWA said the APC is wrong to fix their ticket for Presidential form at N100 million because it has shown the party as a collective of shylock and greedy cash chasing money guzzling political gamblers who are in politics for the cash they can loot.
“There is no logical justification for such a crazy fees because it is even a violation of the NOT TOO YOUNG TO RUN LAW which the President signed. HURIWA said that the high fees shows that APC is telling us that only looters can afford their ticket. Nigerians must come out and condemn this show of shame and the promotion of ostentatious appearances and inordinate wealth”.
“Who is that youth that can afford 50% of the N100 million fees if the APC is saying youths would get a rebate? And even if youths can get that much to fritter on a nomination form, the intention and import conveyed by the APC is that politics is for the highest bidders and for those heartless enough to loot the Nation’s treasury mindlessly BECAUSE THE LOGIC OF PAYING SO MUCH TO OBTAIN A TICKET IS THAT WHEN YOU WIN THE ALL POWERFUL POSITION OF PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA, YOU EXPECT TO GAIN SO MUCH THROUGH ILLEGITIMATE AND CRIMINAL MEANS,” HURIWA affirmed.
