Connect with us

Politics

Crazy cost of elections in Nigeria

Latest Politics updatein nigeria

nigeria.jpg” />

In the same way that nigeria won and defeated violence, intrigues, and intimidations that ushered and characterized the Saturday February 25, 2023 presidential and national assembly elections which are now history; we are hopeful and prayerful that the same victory of peace and goodwill shall play out in the governorship and state assembly elections earlier […]
The post Crazy cost of elections in nigeria appeared first on Daily Trust.

In the same way that nigeria won and defeated violence, intrigues, and intimidations that ushered and characterized the Saturday February 25, 2023 presidential and national assembly elections which are now history; we are hopeful and prayerful that the same victory of peace and goodwill shall play out in the governorship and state assembly elections earlier for scheduled for today, but had to be postponed for reasons of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) re-configuration to Saturday March 18, 2023.

Nonetheless, it is discernable to every keen observer in nigeria that the road to presidency and the 469 seats in the national assembly is as crazy as the cost of processes leading to them. With all the usual build-ups to general elections in nigeria, any opinion that says “elections are war in nigeria” would be adjudged to be correct. For the conduct of the 2023 presidential election, for instance, government deployed over 425,000 security personnel across the country; the biggest deployment in the nigeria’s history of general elections. This, as part of the cost of election in nigeria, has massive implications in monetary terms. This figure which includes deployments from the army, the air force, the navy, the police, the DSS, and the civil defense corps is huge enough to displace any existing records of single security deployment in the Guinness Book.

The Central Bank of nigeria (CBN)’s bullion vans and the Nigerian Air Force jets were separately engaged for transporting sensitive election materials to state capitals. All these place huge financial burdens on government. The navy is involved in shipping election materials to coastal areas of the country. Land borders had to be closed, vehicular movements restricted from 6am to 6pm, market stalls locked up for the whole day, and local airlines shut down their operations. Several other sectors were made to suffer for the sake of electing leaders for the country. Each of these measures has adverse consequences on the nation’s economy. This is part of the cost of election in nigeria.

Beyond the cost of huge security deployments and the shutdown of commercial activities is the shutting down of systems that are far unconnected to election duties. It’s lamentable that the entire educational system was shutdown for elections, even as elections traditionally hold on weekends (Saturdays, and by extension, Sundays). Sadly, no one is speaking for nigeria’s dysfunctional system of education even after the election-vacation is expected to extend from the initial three to four weeks due to the shift in the date of governorship election. The time that could have been utilized by learners and their teachers at all levels to salvage the failing system has been lost to elections. More worrying is how the leaders that emerged from every round of elections in the recent past contributed to worsening the woes of education in nigeria.

The cost of purchasing party nomination forms in addition to the cost of primary elections are as huge as all that transpire in general elections. Analyzing the build-up to primary elections by political parties, this column published a piece on this same page on Saturday May 14, 2022 with the title “So, nigeria is this rich?”. In that piece, this writer x-rayed the extremely expensive nature of politics, political campaigns and elections in nigeria. The repeat of these pricy experiences every four years is not good for nigeria, which as a developing country, requires enormous resources to provide all the basic infrastructure that the country lacks in its health, education, transport and agricultural sectors.

Besides the cost of nomination forms is the expenditure incurred by a party’s presidential flag-bearer who, throughout the campaign period, would have to be travelling in chattered aircrafts. The parking charges alone, where the aspirant owns a private jet, are crazily whopping. Governorship candidates would need to charter buses to convey his crowd of supporters to every part of the state. Other sundry spending by candidates vying for elective positions include paying (where necessary) for hired crowds at political rallies, and allowances for party agents at polling units.

Advertisement

Politics

Don’t Use NLC’s Platform, Funds To Pursue Your 2027 Ambition – Abure Knocks Ajaero

Latest Politics updatein nigeria

 

 

 

Lifestyle Nigeria gathered that National Chairman of Labour Party, LP, Comrade Julius Abure, has told the President of the nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero not to use the platform, funds and resources of the NLC to pursue his ambition of either becoming the president of the country in 2027 or governor of Imo State.

Abure stated this at Asaba, Delta State on Wednesday while reacting to the shutting down of the Labour Party’s National Headquarters by protesting members of the NLC who demanded for his immediate removal as National Chairman of the party.

He said the “picketing” of the party’s office was politically motivated, describing it as a show of rascality and abuse of office and the laws of the land.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Politics

Why I Withdrew From Ondo Guber Race — Eyitayo Jegede

Latest Politics updatein nigeria

Lifestyle Nigeria gathered that the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo state in 2020, Chief Eyitayo Jegede, on Thursday, said he withdrew from the 2024 governorship race to give room for unity and ensure victory for the party in the forthcoming governorship election.

Jegede who noted that disunity has not allowed any candidate from that party to win the governorship race in the state, said he chose to sacrifice his ambition for the development of the party.

This is just as a group within the party, PDP Crusader, hailed the decision of Jegede to step aside in the forthcoming governorship election in the state in order to build a strong and united party that can send the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) packing in the state.

The Coordinator of the PDP Crusader, Hon Mayokun Akinmoladun, said the group was ready to follow and support Jegede in any decision he took on the party’s primary and the November 16 governorship election.

Akinmoladun said the most important thing to the party is to come together and rescue the state, noting that the party was not being run the way it was supposed to be.

He said the party may go into extinction if care is not taken, and commended Jegede for financing the party since it lost the governorship seat some eight years ago.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Politics

El-Rufai Visits SDP Office Amid Rumour Of Defection (Update)

Latest Politics updatein nigeria

 

Lifestyle Nigeria gathered that Ahead of the 2027 general elections, former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El- Rufai on Wednesday visited the Abuja National Secretariat of the Social Democratic Party, SDP.

A source said El-Rufai paid a consultation visit to the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Shehu Musa Gabam.

The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

He was nominated for a ministerial position in President Bola Tinubu’s administration but was not confirmed by the Senate.

See Update link below:

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Most Popular

X

Copyright © 2022 Lifestyle Nigeria