2023: All you need to know about APC plans, primaries and income of more than

As the 2023 elections continue to vibrate Nigeria’s nation, the governing party, the All Progressive Congress National Executive Committee (NEC) has fixed the method of their primaries, from its Legislators, Senatorial, Governorship and Presidential levels, and their cost for expression of interest and nomination forms as well as the mode of the primaries.

The highest and most costly is at N100 million for the presidential aspirant’ election broken as expression of interest form at N30 million and nomination form at N70 million.

Mr. Felix Morka, the APC, spokesperson shared this in Transcorp Hilton Abuja at the end of the NEC emergency meeting. The party is expected with these cost implications to be able to generate close to N20 billions naira alone. The expected calculation by our team is that the party will generate around N1 billion from the potential 10 aspirants that have declared their interest to be the presidential flag bearer for the 2023 general elections.

The known and seen ten are:

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; ex-Lagos State Governor and national leader of the party, Senator Bola Tinubu; the Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi; the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige; Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi; Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello; former Imo State Governor;  Owelle Rochas Okorocha; former Governor of Abia State, Senator Uzor Kalu; former Senate President, Ken Nnamani; Sighted Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria Mr. Godwin Emefiele and others such as yet to declare Ekiti State Governor and a former governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

The party is expected to earn at least N 5 billion naira from the senatorial aspirants. The assumption is that there could be around 5 candidates per state. Nigeria has 36 states plus the FCT making it 37 but FCT has no governorship election but an appointed minister who acts in the same capacity as a governor.

The cost as applied and approved by the APC’s NEC is N50 million for the expression of interest and nomination forms; while at the senatorial (370), with a more than 100 potential seats, APC could generate N7.4 billion since the forms for the Senate is at N20 million and finally the House of Representatives aspirants (3600) paying N10 million each could bring in a whooping N36 billions.

Nigeria has around 1000 state house of assemblies’ seats, with each aspirant for these state legislative seats paying N2 million for both forms, there is no doubt that the party can generate N20 billion from about 10,000 aspirants across the nation. Nonetheless the party offered free tickets for women and persons living with disabilities and a per cent discount for aspirants that are less than 40 years.

One question from this gesture is how many people will actually scale through the process to become candidates in the elections. The forms will go on sale from 23rd April 22.

The cost of presidential forms of the APC for the 2023 elections is miles apart from the nomination forms of the main opposition party, PDP, whose expression of interest and nomination forms are fixed at N5 million and N35 million, respectively.

Mode of primaries and Dates

The all-powerful NEC fixed the  18th May 2023 for governorship primaries,  20th May for state House of Assembly on May 20,  22nd May for House of Representatives; 24th May for the Senate and 30th May to 1st June for presidential primary. The hottest and most demanding of any of the aspirants is mode of the primaries which the NEC resolution adopted is indirect primaries. In the indirect primaries, the delegates will decide the flag bearers of the party-state congresses and national convention.

Other resolutions

23rd April to May 6 – NEC also approved the sale of nomination and expression of interest and nomination forms while the

7th – 9th May – congress to elect states and national

10th May is the deadline for submission of forms

12th May is for screening of aspirants for State Houses of Assembly and governors,

13th May is for screening of the House of Representatives and Senatorial aspirants

14th May is for screening of presidential aspirants.

13th and 14th May is fixed for the publication of objections and appeals by any governorship and states legislative aspirants

14th May for publication of claims and objection if any by the Presidential

14th May for publication of objections by Aspirants for federal legislative seats and

17th May for eventual appeals.

23rd May is fixed for appeals of any aspirants.

The final approval is the transferred of NEC of its decision making power to the newly elected National Working Committee (NWC) NWC led by the Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu for 90 days. In comparison the opposition party in Nigeria, the PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) charges 60% less than the APC for their forms especially for the Presidential aspirants fixed at N5 million and N35 million.