The Nigeria Intervention Movement (NIM), a grand coalition of third force movement has threatened that there would no election in Nigeria in 2019 if nothing was done to reverse the trend of exorbitant high cost of nomination forms by political parties.
A statement issued by the movement said it would mobilise Nigerians against the trend.
Enraged by what is termed corrupt exorbitant cost of Nomination and Expression of Interest fees currently being charged by dominant political parties in Nigeria for the exclusion of credible aspirants in the 2019 elections, the third force movement under the grand coalition of Nigeria Intervention Movement, NIM has vowed to mobilise the Nigerian peoples, especially youths and masses in self determination movements to shut down the thriving corrupt electoral system and party politics of cartels in country before the 2019 elections, if nothing is done urgently by leaders of the country to reverse the trend.
The movement in a statement issued at the end of a Tactical Consultation on Monday in Abuja by its media assistant, Mr Olubori Obafemi criticised the Buhari led Federal Government and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC for tacitly conniving to aid political corruption in the country with the current trend of higher purchase and highest bidder electoral system foisted on the country contrary to the anti corruption mantra of the Federal government
NIM further asserted that such heavily monetized electoral system which received the tacit approval of President Muhammadu Buhari, having himself consented to procure such exclusive nomination form by proxy at an outrageous fee of #45 million, can only further entrench the phenomenon of election purchase and vote buying already foisted on the country by corrupt money bags and highest bidders during the 2019 elections,
“This is a criminal attempt to take political service and democratic mandate out of the reach of ordinary citizens of Nigeria into the firm grip of looters and corrupt moneybags in party cartels, not minding leadership values, integrity and sincerity to serve the people” stressing further that no credible politician and selfless aspirant will dare get involved in such mandate purchase.
“It is our view that political or electoral corruption is the mother of every economic corruption in any society. Therefore it is quite embarrassing and very unfortunate that he Nigerian political class under the led by APC and PDP can degenerate into this sad abyss of reckless political merchandising under the very watch of President Buhari who is being prided today as Nigeria’s anti corruption czar and Messiah.
“For us in NIM, with this trend of cash and carry politics, Nigeria’s democracy and its 2019 elections are already strategically rigged in favour of the rich and the corrupt, most of whom have had the opportunity to loot and amass Nigeria’s common wealth into their private purse. So such monetarily rigged process can not serve the interest and welfare of the mass of the Nigerian people except it is immediately dismantled and reorganized to accommodate the interest of the toiling majority of electorate and masses of the country.
“Since the political class have now resorted to shameless election purchase and mindless exclusion of majority of aspiring/emerging political leaders from the democratic process through the imposition of outrageous fees for nomination forms, we think it is now time for marginalised and technically excluded Nigerian youth and masses to take back Nigeria’s electoral process immediately from the hawks parading the nation’s democratic space as leaders by organising under a single revolutionary political movement. We wish to insist,” the statement read.
NIM finally called on Nigerians, especially eminent leaders of thought in the project Nigeria led by Prof Ben Nwabuese, SAN and all Self determination groups in Pro National Conference Organisationt, PRONACO to join hands with its leadership in mobilising for the dismantling and shutting down of the ongoing corrupt electoral system in pursuing the course of surgical overhaul of Nigeria’s political system before it is too late in the day
