BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
Last week’s announcement by the ruling All Progressives Congress of the amount to be paid for its nomination forms by aspirants for various elective positions in the coming 2023 general election has again brought to the fore the role of the National Assembly in making laws for the good governance of the country. Expectedly, attention is being focused on the failure or otherwise of the 9th National Assembly in the right and proper thing about election funding that would meet the yearning of Nigerians.
In 2018, the 8TH National Assembly failed in its attempt to amend the 2010 Electoral Act. The duo of Senator Bukola Saraki and Honourable Yakubu Dogara were heading the NASS then. The amendment was ahead of the 2019 general elections. In that attempt, it was provided that expenses for presidential election should not exceed N5 billion, following amendment of Section 91 of the original 2010 Electoral Act.
It was also provided that no gubernatorial candidate should spend above N1 billion; senatorial candidate, N100 million; House of Representatives, N70 million; State House of Assembly, N30 million; LG chairman, N30 million and councillorship, not above N5 million, in line with amendment of sections 91(1to 7).
That still-born amendment also provided that no individual or other entity shall donate to a candidate more than 10 million naira. In Section 91(10), it stipulates that “a candidate who knowingly acts in contravention of this section, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of one per cent of the amount permitted as the limit of campaign expenditure under this Act or Imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both.’’
What the amendment of 2018 sought to repeal in the original Electoral Act 2010 include the fact that the expenses by a presidential candidate could not exceed one billion naira; governorship election was pegged at two hundred million naira; a senatorial seat at forty million naira while the seat for House of Representatives had an upper limit expenditure of twenty million naira. A candidate for a State Assembly election was allowed the maximum expenditure of ten million naira while a chairmanship election to any local government area council could not exceed ten million naira and that of councillorship election was one million naira. Fundamentally, no individual or entity was permitted to donate more than one million naira to a candidate then.
The then Chairman, Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Senator Suleiman Nazif (Bauchi North), led the debate on the ‘Bill for an Act to Amend the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Act 2010 and for other matters connected therewith, 2018’. That was back then in 2018.
But as fate would have it, President Buhari had on September 3, 2018, declined assent to the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018, transmitted to him by the 8TH National Assembly on August 3 for the third time by hinging his decision on “cross referencing errors and fears of increased cost of conducting elections,” among others and all the efforts at amending the Act became history.
The 9TH National Assembly, however, was able to make a success of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2022 as President Buhari finally signed it with a proviso that NASS should re-amend yet another section, which today is a subject of litigation.
In its amendment efforts, the 9TH Assembly incorporated what the 8TH Assembly had in mind in terms of campaign finance. Given the fact that Nigerians generally believed that our politics is highly monetized, the lawmakers ensured that the 2022 Act addresses this but increased the expenditure limit. By S.88, a presidential candidate can now spend up to five billion naira while governorship candidates can spend up to one billion naira. Senate and House of Representatives candidates can spend up to a maximum of 1,00 000, 000 naira and 70,000,000 naira respectively. Members of the state legislature, chairmanship of local governments/area councils have permission to spend up to 30,000,000 naira while councillorship candidates have a ceiling of 5,000,000 naira.
However, in the 2022 Act, the sum an individual or entity could donate to a candidate has now been increased to a whopping 50 million naira.
A civil society organisation, Adopt A Goal Initiative, in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Ariyo-Dare Atoye blamed the leadership of the 9th National Assembly for adopting wholesale the provisions in the Electoral Act as passed by the 8th National Assembly.
The group stated that, “The leadership of the 9th National Assembly is culpable in the “shameful and unconscionable extortion and exploitation of aspirants by political parties.
The group faulted the 9th Assembly for not including relevant materials from the efforts of the 8th Assembly in the 2022 Act. “Although President Muhammadu Buhari did not sign the amended Electoral Bill as passed by the 8th Assembly, the exclusion of provisions that prevent political parties from exploiting prospective aspirants, was an unwise decision.
“The leadership of the 8th National Assembly led by Sen Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogora, in response to the concerns over election expenses by aspirants and the call for the inclusion of more women and young people in political offices, introduced a cap on the cost of nomination forms.
“The sign was ominous that political parties, instead of prioritising the collection of dues to fund their operations, had made the exploitation of aspirants through nomination and expression of interest forms a major source of financing their activities.”
“Leadership is critical to nation-building; if we are going to make this democracy serve the people, we must be deliberate in electing leaders who will advance political and electoral reforms for inclusive participation of women and young people
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It added that, “Unfortunately, the leadership of the 9th National Assembly bowed to the demand of political parties and excluded these essential provisions in the amendment and re-enactment that formed the Electoral Act 2022.
“Leadership is critical to nation-building; if we are going to make this democracy serve the people, we must be deliberate in electing leaders who will advance political and electoral reforms for inclusive participation of women and young people.
“What we are seeing is an odious attempt at state capture by party officials who are building a political caste system where the hoi polloi will have no stake in politics,” the group said.
In announcing the price regime, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said, “Now the last item which is the schedule of fees payable for these offices. The first is the house of the Assembly. The expression of interest form has been set for N500,000 while the nomination form has been set for N1.5m.
That brings it to a total of N2m for the state House of Assembly. The House of Representatives has a fee prescribed of N1m for the expression of interest form N9m for the nomination for bringing it for the House of Representatives to total of N10m.
“For the Senate, we have the expression of interests from set at N3m naira while the nomination form has been set at N17m bringing it to a total of 20m for the Senate.
“For governorship, we have the expression of interest form set at N10 million naira with the nomination from set at N40m naira bringing it to a total of N50m naira for the governorship and our presidential form has been set for expression of interest of N30m naira and the nomination form set at N70m bringing it to a total of N100m.”
But for PWD, the party graciously granted concessions. “Now please note and this is very important that female aspirants and persons with disability to purchase our expression of interest forms for all the positions that they may be interested in while the nomination forms will be free without any costs to them. Let me say that again, especially of interest funds will be paid for based on the schedule that are announced for our female aspirants or for persons living with disability will be paid for according to the fees that are announced for each of the positions. But the nomination forms, which obviously from what I’ve said cost more, will be delivered to them for free at no cost to them.
“Now, our youth also got some very special consideration out of this meeting. And our youth are considered persons between the ages of 25 to 40. They are to purchase the expression of interest forms but with a discount of 50 per cent. On the nomination forms now as usual, all of the payments are to be made to banks that will be designated by the party and published in a very short while from now.”
Whether the ongoing outcry against the seemingly unrestrained manner with which political parties can charge aspirants on its platform will force the National Assembly to take another look at the sections that deal with election funding or not, only time will tell.
