The necessity which propelled a former head of state, Muhammadu Buhari, to obtain a bank loan of N27 million to purchase his nomination form to contest the presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has brought to the fore the issue of campaign finance in Nigeria.
The phenomenon is not new. The financial component of purchasing forms to contest party primaries has seen an inflationary rise from N5 million to today’s N20 million for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the APC’s N27 million. In the process, we are now into full blown mercantilist politics and the country is worse off for it.
The electoral process is of course expensive all over the world. In Nigeria it is accentuated by the very nature of the political parties. Rather than being funded by the contributions, bottom up of small stakeholders in a participatory set-up, the parties have now largely become fiefdoms with the participants engaged in turf-wars.
The present campaign finance laws are observed only in the breach. Additional legislation is therefore needed to give them bite. Unfortunately for the polity without laws enforceable by an empowered regulatory body we will continue to attract the wrong type of people into our political space.
Unfortunately too, if we do not attract the right people the cycle of underachievement will continue.
