The National Women leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Betta Edu says any youth aspiring to become the president of Nigeria in 2023 should have access to at least N50 million.
Gatekeepers News had earlier reported that the APC as part of the decision ratified at the emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on Wednesday in Abuja approved price for sales of nomination forms.
While the Expression of Interest form is fixed at the cost of N30 million, the nomination form cost N70 million.
The sale of forms of the ruling party will commence on April 22, 2022.
The party also approved nomination forms free for female aspirants and persons with disability.
The party also pegged expression of interest forms for House Of Assembly aspirants for 500,000 while nomination forms for 1,500,000.
For House Of Representatives, the Expression of Interest form is fixed at the cost of N1 million, the nomination form cost N9 million.
For Senatorial aspirants, the Expression of Interest form is fixed at the cost of N3 million, the nomination form cost N17 million.
For Governorship aspirants, the Expression of Interest form is fixed at the cost of N10 million, the nomination form cost N40 million.
Edu, in a chat with Arise TV defended the nomination forms’ price tag, adding that “there are many ways that young people can generate funding for elections”.
She said: “If you want to be able to cater for Nigerians, you should have gone above the point where you have to look for N50 million.
“When you make up your mind that you want to run, you should be able to prepare adequately for that race. Beyond that, there are many ways that young people can generate funding for elections. It mustn’t be your money.
“There are many ways young people can generate funds to run for whatever elections they have. Remember, they are not paying 100 percent of whatever others are paying.
“If you’re a young person who truly people believe in you and you truly have the masses, there’s fundraising.
“If you want to run for the president of Nigeria. You need to go through the 36 states; remember that the law states you must have at least 25 percent across the board for you to be able to emerge.
“So it’s beyond picking up form and sitting down in one place and probably winning only one polling unit, and you say you want to run. That’s not what we should offer as a ruling party; we need to put some seriousness and scale into the game.
“And if you want to be able to cater for Nigerians, you should have gone above the point where you have to look for N50 million.
“If you don’t even have access to N50 million and you want to run for the presidency, then there is a problem already. How are we sure that you’ll be able to manage so much funds if you’re given that opportunity.”
