TheCable

#FixPolitics, a civil society organisation (CSO), has condemned the cost of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) nomination forms.

The APC and PDP had fixed the prices of their presidential nomination forms at N100 million and N40 million respectively. The cost of the forms, particularly that of the APC, has attracted widespread criticism.

In a statement issued on Thursday, and signed by Anthony Ubani, its executive director, FixPolitics said the “outrageous” fees show that the leaders do not care about the suffering of citizens as all that matters to them is to “secure their firm vice grip on political power and the nation’s resources”.

“We must ask, are these fees meant to encourage the recruitment of competent leaders who have the capacity and character to meet the exigencies of the moment or to attract the same old, failed and fraudulent political class to come and finish the work of destroying Nigeria?” the statement reads.

“It is the considered opinion of #FixPolitics that these repugnant nomination fees are a clear demonstration of the insensitivity of the current ruling elite and the brazen disdain which they have for the Nigerian people.

“It is unconscionable that at a time like this, when millions of Nigerians are wallowing in extreme poverty, when unemployment has reached frightening levels and the quality of life has sunk to historic lows due to the ruling political class’s failure to provide good governance, security and efficient service delivery to Nigerians, the APC would be bold enough to make and defend such abhorrent decisions.

“The message from our rulers (we fail to recognise them as leaders) is clear: they do not care one bit about the sufferings of the generality of the people. The unprecedented levels of security challenges – Nigeria, for the first time in history, has overtaken Iraq as the country with the highest number of attacks by the Islamic State (IS); the country winning the unenviable status of “poverty capital of the world”; the near 50 trillion Naira debt burden that has hobbled the Nigerian economy plus myriads of other pressing problems begging for attention, do not strike any cord of compassion in the hearts of the ruling political class.”

#FixPolitics called on Nigerians to get their voters cards and be ready to vote out the “insensitive, incompetent, inconsiderate and incapable political class in the coming 2023 elections”.