PREPARATIONS for d November 16 governorship election in Anambra State have again raised d issue of the highly monetised nature of Nigerian politics.
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The ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, generated N163m from selling expression of interest and nomination forms to aspirants. Last Saturday, APGA disqualified six of d aspirants. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, raked in N184m from the same exercise.
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APGA's nomination form cost N10m for men and N5m for women. PDP charged same rate of N10m for both men and women. These expenses are outrageous at d entry point of the gubernatorial race. It gives room for candidates to violate the Electoral Act which pegs the expenses candidates should incur in elections.
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Section 91 (3) of d Electoral Act 2010 (amended) provides that, "The maximum election expenses to be incurred by a candidate at a Governorship election shall be two hundred million Naira (N200, 000,000)."
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Aspirants are spending a lot of money informally to gain the attention of party leaders.