TheCable

Kingsley Moghalu, former presidential candidate, says the federal government should start funding political parties to curb corruption in the system.

The former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), who said this on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Thursday, cited the N100 million cost for a presidential nomination form of the All Progressives Congress as an example of how exorbitant it is to run for office.

Moghalu said government funding will divert the attention of political parties and their players from the inordinate search for funds to real issues, adding that it will also help the electorate to make informed decisions at the polls.

“Delegates in Nigeria are merely looking for pecuniary benefits and once that is the basis on which delegates make decisions, it can not necessarily throw up the best candidates,” he said.

“There is a problem in the internal political party’s processes. INEC needs to look far more deeply and regulate this process.

“One of my recommendations is that the government should fund political; parties. This was done at the time of the SDP and NRC that Babaginda set up. If you look at the amount spent on all other things, we spend N4 trillion on petroleum subsidies.

“It is a policy and legislative choice. It is done in Germany, Canada and in many countries in the world, government fund political parties so that what voters are deciding on are the issues, not who is giving more money.

“Look at how much the APC presidential form cost – N100 million. If the federal government were funding political parties, they would not be under pressure to sell forms at such exorbitant rates in order to make basic money to operate and this is part of what is driving political parties to corruption.”