APC Aspirant decries high cost of party nomination forms

An aspirant for the Benue House of Assembly, Mr Joseph Boko, has called on the All Progressive Congress (APC) to reduce the cost of its nomination forms so as not to block quality aspirants from contesting.
Boko, who is vying to represent Kwande constituency, made the call in an interview on Friday in Makurdi.
According to him, the high cost placed on the nomination forms will exclude most aspirants and affect the party’s chances of winning the 2015 elections.
Boko, who picked his nomination form on Thursday at the party’s state secretariat, said he was going into the race to improve the quality of legislation and enhance the living conditions of the people.
He said the expression of interest form for the state house of assembly costs over N600,000 and regretted that many aspirants might not afford it.
He believed that reducing the cost of the forms would throw the contest open and provide the enabling environment for the best candidates to emerge.
“The high cost of nomination forms shows no ideological difference between the APC and the ruling PDP, which has also hiked the cost of forms beyond the reach of its ordinary members.”
According to him, the APC as a grassroots political party, needs to have the right candidates to enable it uproot the PDP in the 2015 general election.
He lauded INEC’s performance in recent elections it conducted, and charged it not to disappoint Nigerians during the 2015 polls.
“INEC is better prepared for the elections, anything short of successful management of elections will be deliberate because they have seen it all and can know where adjustments can be made.”
He said Nigerians expect INEC to effectively manage the election, warning that the citizens would not accept any failure in that respect.
The aspirant advised the commission to make proper arrangements for the smooth conduct of the polls in states with security challenges to avoid disenfranchising the people.
He said any political party that was well prepared would win the 2015 elections. (NAN)