2023: Kwankwaso’s party leaders demand probe of APC’s N100m presidential forms

The National Woman Leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Dr. Maryam Jummai Bello-Yasin has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), to probe the ongoing ‘bazaar’ in the name of sale of nomination forms in some political parties.

She made this call on Tuesday in Abuja at a sensitization and mobilization meeting with the NNPP women leaders from across the country.

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There have been mixed reactions to the N100m pegged by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for its expression of interest and nomination forms to be paid by presidential aspirants.

A former Kano State Governor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, is the national leader of the NNPP.

Mrs. Bello-Yasin who questioned the rationale behind the payment of N100m for an ordinary form wondered why the craze among appointees of the federal government and other politicians to buy the forms and how they earned such amount.

The woman leader also berated government for allowing the industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to fester with an extension of another three months due to deadlock in the meetings between the federal government and ASUU.

“Nigerians have gone through hell, we have suffered; a lot of people have been disenfranchised, many people do not have food to eat, they cannot even sustain daily food, our children are out there without jobs, they have finished university, no jobs. The universities have been on strike.

“You can imagine what happened yesterday. They held meetings with them (ASUU) and they extended the strike by 3 months which is very unhealthy. Their children are already abroad reading with the hope that by the time they finish they are coming back to take over the mantle of leadership which will never happen.

“You can see how they are wasting our money. 100 million for a form that was printed less than N50. Even those in the office, there is no decorum, there is no respect for the law, there is no protocol, everybody came out from offices, they are still serving officers, serving ministers, serving commissioner, and all that they came out to use the tax payers’ money to buy these forms which is highly unacceptable.

“We cannot take it because we are shortchanged, we won’t allow them to mess up this country. They deliberately want to gather this money because they know that they are not going to win the election. They are now gathering the money to make sure the treasury is empty. We are not going to take it. Where is EFCC, where is ICPC. They have to explain where they got the money. We are not going to allow this to happen,” she said.