Group pays N45m to buy APC presidential form for Buhari

A group has paid the N45 million required  by President Muhammadu Buhari to buy the presidential form of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), a presidential aide has said.

The group’s action comes barely 24-hours after the formal announcement of dates for the APC primaries and fees for forms for various political positions by the governing party.

PREMIUM TIMES Tuesday published details of the primaries and cost of the nomination forms for APC aspirants.

House of Assembly aspirants will pay a total of N850,000; House of Representatives aspirants are to pay a total of N3,850,000.

Senate aspirants will pay a total of N7 million, governorship aspirants a total of N22.5 million and presidential aspirants a total of N45 million.

The pro- Buhari group, Nigeria Consolidation Ambassadors Network (NCAN) on Wednesday obtained the form for Mr Buhari.
The group paid the mandatory N45 million for the expression of interest and the nomination form for the president, the aide indicated.

The cheque was received by the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, in Abuja.

Bashir Ahmed, the president’s assistant on new media announced the action and shared pictures of the ceremony on his Facebook page.

“While president Buhari is far in China, a group of good Nigerians bought expression of interest form and nomination form for him,” Mr Ahmed wrote.

Mr Buhari is still in China on an official visit.

He is expected to emerge the candidate of the APC for next year’s presidential election as he faces no major opposition within the party.

The group that bought the form, led by Sunusi Musa, its national coordinator, also spoke on its actions.

The group said its members across states decided to pull their resources together to do this for the president.

“We have decided to pull our meager resources together and purchase the expression of interest and nomination forms for President Buhari as he presents himself to our party members to be chosen as its candidate the 2019 general election.

“Our members from the various villages, local governments and state have contributed to making this happen. It is my singular honour and rare privilege to present to you a cheque of N45 million as payment for the expression of interest and nomination forms for President Muhammadu Buhari,” Mr Musa told the party chairman.

The group said it believes in the president who declared his interest to run for a second term some months ago because he has both in words and in action worked to lay a foundation for a greater and a prosperous nation.