Mike Ozekhome, the Lead Counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, APC, of monetizing democracy.
Ozekhome wants Buhari to explain to Nigerians how he expects his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo, Rotimi Amaechi, Chris Ngige, and other Presidential aspirants to raise N100m to obtain their nomination forms inspite of his fight against corruption.
The lawyer said the APC was mocking the country’s democracy by pegging its Presidential nomination forms at N100m and governorship at N50 million, saying that Buhari has shown Nigerians an “example of how not to fight corruption”.
Ozekhome maintained that most of the aspirants would be unable to purchase the forms legitimately going by their income. “It will take Buhari himself whose salary is N14.05m 84 months (7 years) to get N100m.
“Buhari and the APC must tell us where they hope that Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, whose present annual salary is N12.126 million, will obtain N100m from when he would require 99 months to earn the N100m price tag for the nomination form.
“They must explain to Nigerians where aspirants like Chris Ngige and Rotimi Amaechi who are ministers with an annual salary of N2,026,400 will get N100m for a presidential form when it will take them nearly 50 years to earn N100m.
And “ Kayode Fayemi, Yahaya Bello, David Umahi, and Okorocha, whose salary per annum is N2,223,705,” how will they “cough out N100 million when it will take each of them 45 years to earn N100 million. Where will non-wealthy members of the APC, like Gbenga Hashim Olawepo get such money from?”
“… where will Senator Orji Uzor Kalu and former Senate President Dr Ken Nnamani fetch N100m from, when their salary as Senators was and is N750,000 per month. It would take Kalu and Nnamani 135 years to earn N100m.”
Ozekhome maintains that the Presidency and the APC National Executive Committee, NEC, has something up their sleeve, else they will not place such a steep price tag on a nomination form especially for an administration that’s fighting corruption.
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