We Can’t Afford It – Buhari’s Aide Reacts As Kano Govt Pegs Chair, Councillor Forms At ₦10 Million, ₦5 Million

A former aide to ex-president, Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmed, has decried that the party’s candidates cannot afford the price of the nomination form for the Kano State local government election.

The Kano State Independent National Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) put the nomination form for chairmanship and councillorship positions at ₦10 million and ₦5 million, respectively.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bashir Ahmed, said no party member interested in the positions can afford the nomination forms.

Ahmed further questioned the decision of KANSIEC to put nomination forms for sale instead of the political parties.

“I am asking this question again because I still haven’t gotten a satisfactory answer, why did KANSIEC, the Kano electoral body, set a nomination fee for those interested in contesting in the upcoming chairmanship and councilorship elections in the state, instead of allowing the political parties to do so?

“I’ve been asking because the electoral body has set the nomination fee at ₦10 million for the chairman and ₦5 million for the councillor. I doubt that our party, as the opposition in the state, can afford such high fees if even the ruling party can.

“The electoral body only provides election forms to successful candidates after parties have conducted their primaries, and these forms are given for free. What the Kano electoral body is planning to sell are the nomination forms, which are typically purchased from parties,” Ahmed said.

A check by our reporter showed that under the immediate former governor of Kano State, Umar Ganduje, the then KANSIEC chairman, Mukhtari Yahya Usman, announced the sale of nomination forms for local government election from October 19 to December 03, 2020.