Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human right activist, Femi Falana, has described as immoral, the N100m presidential candidate nomination form fee demanded by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Falana described the levy as outrageous, insensitive, illegal and discriminatory in a country where the minimum wage is N30,000.
The senior lawyer said this when he played host to Channels Television on Thursday.
Last week, APC fixed the price for its presidential nomination forms at N100m while the PDP pegged its presidential form fee at N40m.
According to Falana, “Those outrageous nomination fees are immoral, insensitive, and illegal. Again, section 42 of the Nigerian constitution provides that nobody shall be subjected to any restriction or discrimination on the basis of class, fortune, sex, or whatever.”
“If these parties are saying they want to exclude unserious people, that if you cannot mobilise N100 million or N40 million, you cannot attain some positions in your country, that is discriminatory and illegal.
“No restriction can be erected to prevent you from participating in the politics of the country. You are now saying that the politics of the country is for moneybags or fat cats. That is against the spirit and the letters of the constitution.
“The immorality of it is that we have over 90 million Nigerians that have been classified poor. In a country where the minimum wage is about N30,000 and it is not paid by some states, you can’t say you are collecting N100 million or N40 million to purchase a form,” Falana said.
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‘N100m Presidential Candidate Nomination Fee is Immoral’ – Femi Falana Slams APC