ABUJA – A Political Scientist, Dr Adelaja Odukoya, on Wednesday called for the amendment of the Electoral Act to specify the cost of obtaining nomination forms from political parties.
Odukoya, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Lagos, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
He said the fees being charged for nomination forms by political parties needed to be reviewed downward urgently.
“The issue of high cost of party tickets is actually very worrisome. This should actually be discouraged and how do we check this?
“I think the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has a very important role to play in this regard.
“One of the mandates of INEC is to regulate how politics is played and one of the things the Electoral Act has actually talked about is the issue of over-monetising the electoral process.
“But I think there is a lacuna and that lacuna is that the Electoral Act has only envisaged or taken care of people spending money in terms of campaign.
“But I think the issue actually starts at the point of people trying to seek nomination.
“So, what I am proposing is that the Electoral Act needs to be amended to stipulate a limit beyond which political parties cannot actually charge people for nomination forms.“
According to the lecturer, the high cost of nomination forms is impacting negatively on the country’s democracy.
“It has become a cash and carry political affair.
“With this kind of thing (high cost of nomination forms), it becomes very dangerous because it actually promotes political violence and imprudence.
“You see a situation where people now see politics as investment.
“When it becomes the politics of money bags, many qualified credible Nigerians cannot contest and this is impacting on good governance and the kind of democracy we get.“
