AAC declares 2023 elections forms free for aspirants

The African Action Congress (AAC) has declared the expression of interest and nomination forms for all elective positions in the 2023 general elections free.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Femi Adeyeye, disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday.

He said the decision to declare the forms free was taken by the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) at its meeting held on April 24.

The decision, according to him, was part of efforts to ensure that all Nigerians have the opportunity to vie for elective positions on the AAC platform.

The development came a few days after the All Progressives Congress (APC) pegged the nomination and expression of interest forms for presidential aspirants at N100 million and N50 million for their governorship counterparts.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had earlier fixed the nomination form and expression of interest forms for its aspirants at N40 million and N20 million for individuals vying for the governorship tickets under its platform.

The statement read: “The African Action Congress seized this medium to announce to members of the party and the general public its resolution reached at its meeting of April 24, 2022, one of which is to declare free for all positions, the expression of interest and nomination forms.

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“With a maddening inflation rate of 18 percent, unemployment at 33.3 percent, youth unemployment at 53.4 percent, underemployment at 51 percent, Dollar to Naira exchange rate at 599 Naira to 1 Dollar, hike in electricity and other tariffs, workers’ minimum wage of N30,000 which in reality is barely paid, it is near impossible to find brilliant, financially upright and competent change-seeking Nigerians who would pay exorbitant and illegal fees such as the APC’s and PDP’s, just so as to contest in an election.

“As the (Muhammadu) Buhari regime has priced education, quality healthcare and other social services from the reach of the poor, it is clearer now more than ever, that it has priced participatory democracy so far from the reach of genuine change-seeking but poor people.

“The downward review from the AAC NWC, to the point of declaring free for all positions, came after a clinical assessment of the economic woes caused by the unfortunate Buhari regime.”

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