Tayo Oke
Last week, Tuesday April 19, 2022, the All Progressives Congress revealed the price tag for its presidential application form. It is set at a whopping N100 million. At almost a quarter of a million American dollars, it is the most expensive application form in the world. It deserves an entry into the Guinness Book of Records. Moreover, the application fee is non-refundable, as it is designed with the intention to exclude and discriminate against people with modest means in favour of the wealthy. It is an affront to all democratic norms, as it limits rather than broadens participation. It is particularly galling given that it concerns the choice of who becomes the holder of the highest office in the land namely; President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In one fell swoop, it cuts out vast swathes of income earners amongst whom a competent candidate could emerge. Being so brazenly rich should not be a criterion for becoming president of Nigeria. No individual from any professional group in Nigeria (aside from politicians) takes home N100 million in a year as salary. APC is effectively saying, “Application for President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is open. But, only wealthy individuals need apply.” That is unconscionable, morally offensive and downright illegal.
Since the return to democratic governance in Nigeria in 1999, the criteria for participation in the democratic process have been prescriptive. That is to say, the Independent National Electoral Commission first took it upon itself to dictate to Nigerians which political association could or could not participate in elections as part of a deliberate attempt to ‘weed out ‘mushroom parties’. Up until 2001, political parties in Nigeria had been operating under the “guidelines” set by INEC, which included submission of this, presentation of this, that and the other before a political party could be registered; bank statements, sworn affidavits, addresses of offices, list of staff, twenty copies of the association’s constitution, and on, and on… It was clearly a deliberate attempt to flush out the less well-resourced parties from fielding candidates; to separate the wheat from the chaff so-to-speak.
The late Chief Gani Fawehinmi (Gani as he was popularly known) whose party, the National Conscience Party, had been denied registration, took on the challenge of arguing in the Court of Appeal that INEC’s so-called “guidelines” were illegal and unconstitutional. The court agreed, “Once an association meets the conditions spelt out under section 222 and 223 of the constitution, such an association automatically transforms and becomes a political party…,” per Justice Dahiru Musdapher, JCA. The Supreme Court affirmed the ruling when it came before it in INEC & Anor V Balarabe Musa & Ors (2003) 3 NWLR. The floodgates subsequently opened to new political parties. Instead of having a handful of parties, sponsored mainly by moneybags and the highly connected, the democratic space has since been welcoming to all and sundry, to the extent that Nigeria now has over one hundred registered political parties.
INEC, under the Chairmanship of Dr. Abel Guobadia in 2001, was hostile to what was seen as the proliferation of political parties in the country on the return to civil rule and was determined to curtail their growth. But, that attempt was thwarted by the judiciary. The main political parties — the APC and PDP in particular — are now, ironically, bent on ‘closing ranks’ as it were, by putting up financial barriers to elective public office.
The mischief (of exclusion), that was removed by the Supreme Court in 2002, has now been re-invented twenty years later not by INEC but by the political parties themselves, this time, in respect of candidates for office. The 2002 Supreme Court judgement is not, strictly speaking, a precedent applicable to presidential application forms but the underlying principle is germane. Were a case to be brought by an aggrieved presidential aspirant of the APC before the courts today, there is no doubt that the courts would not deviate from the principle of inclusiveness and wider participation engendered in the 2002 judgement.
Slamming such a prohibitive cost on the party’s application form for president could, and would, be construed as purposefully discriminatory in its effect and, therefore, illegal. It would be seen as a violation of the aspirant’s right to enjoy the privileges of membership of his party, in particular, voting and being voted for. You cannot proclaim my right to contest a position in one breath and, in another breath, put up an insurmountable financial burden which negates that right.
Of course, the party would argue that it is their right to set their own rules, to streamline the process by weeding out ‘Cinderella’ candidates. It is the same sentiment INEC had advanced for shutting down ‘mushroom’ parties in 2002. The Supreme Court frowned on that exclusionary mind-set at the time.
I am convinced it will also do the same this time. Opening up access and expanding participation is a fundamental tenet and sine qua non of democratic politics. That said, leaving room to all comers is the pet hate of political elites all over the world. There is no democracy in the world whose elites do not seek to exclude others. They would rather harbour and cater only to the interest of a minority few. It is not particularly unique to Nigeria in that regard, although the APC’s latest ransom demand on its presidential aspirants has plucked a new depth. It is for the citizens backed by the judiciary to resist and reset the limits before it runs amok.
Come to think of it, without the spirit of open participation, a famous Hollywood actor would not have made it to the White House (Ronald Reagan, 1981-89), still revered as one of America’s greatest presidents of the 20th century. Similarly, a barely literate football legend would not have become President of his country (George Weah, Liberia, 2018-Present), a TV comedian would not have assumed the reins of government and become a dogged Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, repelling Russian aggression on his country (Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine, 2019-Present), a 39-year-old neophyte, with no party base, would not have risen from nowhere to become president of a major world power (Emmanuel Macron, France, 2014-Present). Openness and wider participation is what sets democracy apart from dictatorship. The more the APC and PDP push for exclusivity internally and externally, the more they move the country towards dictatorship.
Finally, anyone who knew and remembers Gani would agree that he would have been livid beyond measure at the APC’s N100 million form.
And, he would have been determined to strangle the shameful scheme at birth. For that purpose, he would have offered his services pro bono to anyone willing to take on this presidential racket in court. Nonetheless, we have so many of Gani’s disciples still on duty in Nigeria, who would make a good job of it as well.
Regardless of what one might think about the vacuous nature of the two main parties, as things stand, one of them is poised to produce the next president of Nigeria come 2023. The point is not whether people really believe in the parties or not. The point is there is, as yet, no realistic alternative to them. N100 million for an application form for a political office earns Nigeria another first in a long list of such negative firsts. We wait with bated breath for a successful legal challenge to this thinly veiled high-level nod to corruption.
drtayooke@gmail.com
