The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, reopened sales of expression of interest and nomination forms for aspirants seeking to contest the 2023 general election.
Deadline for sale of forms had earlier elapsed at the close of work on Wednesday.
A statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, on Wednesday, said it had decided to continue sales until tomorrow, due to several considerations.
“After a thorough consideration of various issues and concerns in the PDP has further adjusted its timetable and schedule of activities to extend the closing dates for the purchase of expression of interest and nomination forms for the 2023 general election to Friday, April 22. Under the reviewed timetable, the last day for the submission of already completed forms has been extended to Monday, April 25.”
Meawhile, the National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, has berated the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the price of its nomination forms.
Ayu, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Communication and Strategy, Simon Imobo-Tswam, said the APC has disenfranchised many Nigerians through the price of the forms.
The ruling party had pegged the nomination forms for presidential and governorship aspirants at N100 million and N50 million respectively.
Ayu said with the price of the nomination forms, it was obvious to Nigerians that the APC “a fragmented alliance put together to capture power and inflict maximum pain on Nigerians, including their own members.
“Nigerians will recall how in 2014, the military head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari, now civilian president and leader of the APC, told Nigerians he had to borrow N27 million to buy his nomination form. The same man, as leader of his party, has now sanctioned the sale of the same forms at N100 million. I am told that’s an increase of N370 per cent.
“But in 2014, the PDP was in power and the economy was still booming.
The incompetent APC presidency has now run the economy aground, making Nigeria the ‘poverty capital of the world’. How then can impoverished APC aspirants buy nominations at such prohibitively high costs? And yet, only recently he preached ‘equal opportunity’ to them.
“By this latest insensitive action, the APC has disenfranchised thousands of its youths, and dashed the hopes of millions of Nigerian youths who applauded President Buhari when he signed the Not Too Young To Run Bill into law in 2018.
“It is most insensitive, and mind-boggling. In fact, all those buying the N100 million and N50 million nomination forms should be investigated for suspected fraud,” he said.
