By Sandra Ijeoma Okoye
It is not an exaggeration to say that not few Nigerians, particularly Lagosians will ever forget what the then chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe said in 2017; ahead of the national convention of the party, he was reported in the media to have said that politics was not a game for the poor and advised those with political ambitions to stay away from politics if they don’t have the wherewithal to achieve their political ambitions.
Mr. Ogunlewe opined that for a politician to be able to play a significant role and be recognized in the political sphere, he must have a lot of money. He said this on Channels Television’s Politics Today, while clarifying reports that some persons were planning to buy delegates in the then upcoming national convention for the party.
He said, “That is politics – politics is not a game to be played by the poor. A poor person has no role in politics. A poor man cannot win election in Nigeria, how will you campaign. If you are poor stay in your house”.
When Ogunlewe made the comment at the time, which was in 2017, it appeared many critics pooh-poohed his view as it was ostensibly dismissed with mere wave of the hands. However, as virtually all the political parties that will be participating in the upcoming general elections have fixed the fees for their party’s Expression Of Interest (EOI) and nomination forms, there is no denying the fact that politics is truly not meant for the poor just as Ogunlewe has rightly asserted in 2017.
For instance, presidential aspirants affiliated to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) are to pay N35 million for nomination forms, while those seeking to contest for the governorship polls are to payN16 million. Needless to mention the fees that are applicable to other positions, it suffices to quote an African proverb in this context that says “The smell of the fart determines the smell of the faeces”.
A statement by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Ambassador Rufus Aiyenigba, added that presidential aspirants would pay N3 million for Expression of Interest (EOI), as the nomination form costs N32 million.
He said: “For other offices, interested aspirants for office of governor will pay N16 million, N1 million for expression of interest and N15 million for nomination form.
“Senate aspirants are to pay N500, 000 for expression of interest and N2.5 million for the nomination form.
“For the House of Representatives, a total of N1.7 million breakable into N200,000 for expression of interest and N1.5 million for nomination form and N500,000 for the State House of Assembly.”
Aiyenigba added: “Pursuant to the approval of the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of our great party which held on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, with regard to the guidelines and conduct of party primaries nationwide and at all levels, and approval of the commencement of sales of nomination forms for the party primaries, the national headquarters hereby releases the following guidelines in respect of the sale of nomination forms for all categories of elective positions in the 2023 general elections.”
The party also said there would be discount of 50 per cent for youths aged between 20 and 30 years, while 100 per cent reduction is for female aspirants and people with disabilities.
As for PDP, prices of the forms for different positions, go as follow, presidential nomination form and expression of interest forms N40 million, governorship N21 million, Senate N3.5 million, House of Representatives N2.5 million and State House of Assembly N600,000.
If you think the foregoing prices, as fixed by PDP’s leadership, are costly, wait for that of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC). The party has fixed prices of its nomination and expression of Interest forms for presidential hopefuls at 100 million, for governors at 50 million naira. For Senators, the forms cost 20 million naira, House of Representatives forms cost 10 million naira, while the state House of Assembly forms is set at 2 million naira.
Given the foregoing outrageous fees for EOIs and Nomination Forms fixed by various political parties that will be featuring candidates for oncoming general election, it would not be wrong to guess that politics has become an investment option. Today, being in politics is unarguably another way of survival for most politicians.
To worsen the situation, money politics is quickly shrinking the political space, becoming a key variable in determining who participates in electoral politics and how. For example, nomination fees for party members seeking elective positions have become so high, as can be seen from the foregoing, that only the rich and daring “political entrepreneurs” can participate in party primaries. As observably gathered from previous elections, it is no more news that presidential hopefuls spent close to or over one billion naira during the primaries while other not-so-rich contenders are wont to spend hundreds of million naira as budgets for primaries.
The question now is, if politics is not profitable, and that it is merely an altruistic and patriotic avenue to serve the people, as most politicians are wont to hypocritically say, why are they now running from pillar to post looking for money to purchase EOIs and Nomination Forms to enable them participate in the upcoming general elections? What is the motivating factor behind such personal ambition that they go to that length of spending billions of Naira so as to participate in the election? What is the motivation behind their political pursuit? Money or desire to serve the people? I know the answer would have been the desire to serve, but in reality it is not service but money. I repeat again, we should have a rethink on why we are in politics, otherwise we can never get it right in the art of politics and governance. In as much as we are today seeing the game of politics as an act of making money, the Christians in politics should remember the word of God in Proverbs chapter 13 verse 11 that says “Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labor shall never decrease”
It is sad today that money makes votes meaningless and voices of citizens stifled as ‘godfathers’ openly confess about shady deals, funding elections for ‘godsons’ and purchasing electoral victory. Businessmen and women are not left out in this illegitimate and illicit use of money for political influence.
In fact, the perception and interpretation of the game of politics by some politicians are often distorted so much that some see it as a quick return on investment. Little wonder most political constituencies are fast retrogressing in terms of infrastructure instead of progressing as politicians usually make efforts to repay the money borrowed to fulfill their ambitions; either as councilors, local government chairmen, governors, lawmakers, president and what have you.
An average businessman, ordinarily, would be more interested in recouping the amount invested in a business before any other thing. So also, a politician who sees politics as an investment option would recoup the money invested for campaign before serving the people and the nation. To this end, it is expedient to advise our politicians to refrain from seeing their involvements in politics as an investment option to the detriment of the people and the country’s collective wellbeing.
