The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, on Tuesday, released its guidelines for primaries to select candidates for next year’s general elections.
It disclosed that it will pick its presidential candidate for next year’s presidential vote on September 20, 2018.
Aspirants to the highest office in the country, on the party’s platform, will pay a handsome sum of N45 million as nomination fees, a price many political watchers said automatically excludes young aspirants whose pockets may not be deep enough to afford the staggering sum.
The guidelines for the primaries, which was approved by the party’s National Executive Committee, NEC, set September 25, 2018, for governorship primary, September 27 for senatorial primary and September 29 for House of Representatives primary, while the primary for state House of Assembly is slated for October 2.
Governorship aspirants will pay nomination fees of N22.5milion, Senatorial aspirants will pay N7million, those for House of Representatives will cough out N3.85 million, and House of Assembly N850,000.
But female aspirants and the physically-challenged, who usually enjoy free nomination forms, are required to pay half of the nomination fees for the office they seek.
Sales of nomination forms started on Tuesday and will be open till September 10, 2018. The forms will be available at the state offices and the national secretariat in Abuja. Completed nomination forms are to be submitted to the national secretariat not later than September 12, 2018.
Nationwide congresses to elect delegates to the national convention to pick the presidential candidate will also hold on September 12.
Meanwhile, while the guidelines and timetable are specific that the presidential candidate will emerge through direct primary, it is silent on the mode for other positions.
