APC chieftain: Tinubu and governors spent approximately N150 billion, or N14 billion apiece, to win the 2023 presidential and gubernatorial elections.

In order to win this year’s primary and general elections, President Bola Tinubu and each of the governors running on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) spent more than N150 billion and N14 billion, respectively.

Salihu Moh Lukman, the former National Vice Chairman (North West) of the party, made the claim, claiming that Tinubu had to spend at least N100 billion to win the main presidential election and more than N50 billion to select the presidential ticket during the primary, according to Daily Sun.

Lukman claims that some of the governors paid at least N10 billion to win the general election and much more than N3 billion to obtain the tickets. He clarified that the enormous amounts of N100 million and N50 million that the party had raised to buy nomination and expression of interest forms for the governorship and presidential elections, respectively, were included in the expenses.

However, the former director general of the APC Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) bemoaned the party’s diminishing democratic credentials, which gave Nigerians hope that a progressive party may emerge from it in 2015.

He contended that due to the high expense of running for office in the APC, the nomination form for the presidential election in 2027 would likely cost at least N250 million, while the gubernatorial election might cost as much as N125 million.

“Aside from the negative public view that the APC and other parties are comparable, there is also the alarming fact that it is getting more and more expensive to run for office and win in the APC—possibly more expensive than in any other party.

For example, the 2014 APC presidential and gubernatorial nomination forms cost N27.5 million and N5 million, respectively, ahead of the 2015 general elections. For presidential and gubernatorial nomination forms, it rose to N45 million and N22.5 million in 2019, respectively. In 2023, it increased to N50 million and N100 million, respectively.

“At current rate, the APC presidential nomination form will cost at least N250 million by 2027. The amount for the gubernatorial race might not be less than N125 million. Many of the individuals who emerged as the APC’s governorship candidates and won the party primary in the 2015 general elections most certainly won’t have needed much more than N1 billion to win. Even though a lot of people would consider this to be exorbitant, this is probably a pretty conservative estimate.

Some states, like Lagos, Rivers, Delta, and Akwa Ibom, could have needed to spend much more than N2 billion to win the 2015 governorship primary. Similar to the cost of nomination papers, there was undoubtedly a significant increase in cost in 2019 and 2023.

The APC presidential primary case actually revealed the most unsettling reality. Former President Muhammadu Buhari was one of the best examples of how to produce a presidential candidate in 2015; however, because he wasn’t a moneybag, he had to rely on the kindness of party leaders and well-wishers to fund his primary election campaign in both 2015 and 2019.

“In 2023, the exact opposite occurred, with all candidates for the APC presidential primary—including President Tinubu—bearing full financial responsibility for their respective campaigns. In light of this, it’s plausible that President Tinubu spent a minimum of N50 billion to win the APC presidential primary and become the nominee for the position.

“President Tinubu had to bear nearly all of the expenses of the 2023 presidential race with very little, if any, support from the APC and other leaders after racking up such enormous personal expenditures with nearly no donations from other party officials. It’s possible that President Tinubu spent more than N100 billion to win the 2023 presidential election, even taking into account the expenses of winning the presidential primary. This is extremely shocking and awful by all measures. When it comes down to the governors, each APC candidate for governor in the 2023 elections would have needed to spend at least N10 billion in order to win, according to Lukman’s comments.

Lukman made the following observation, highlighting the effects of the high election costs: “As things stand, we have to be honest, Nigerian politics cannot remain the way it is today. Many Nigerians, particularly APC supporters, anticipated that one of the reforms the party would implement would be the elimination of money politics. Regretfully, things have gotten worse over time.

Sadly, there is no way to discuss all of this and come up with suggestions because the party’s institutions are broken. The APC is gradually losing its meagre democratic credentials, which in 2015 gave Nigerians hope that a progressive party may break out of it.

Many Nigerians, including APC members, could be inclined to justify this regrettable situation by pointing to the liberal leanings of former President Buhari, who was unable to see to it that the APC developed over the course of the last eight years into the progressive party that was intended. As a result, the PDP effectively seized control of the APC, and among its many bad traits is money politics, he said.