Only billionaires can contest presidential election in Nigeria’s political financing structure – Femi Falana, SAN

Barrister Femi Falana has faulted the huge cost involved in contesting presidential election, saying Nigeria’s political financing structure is only for billionaires, leaving the vast majority of citizens.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, who is a Human rights lawyer, condemned what he tagged the “financial barriers” built into Nigeria’s political system, described as unfortunate that this has escaped the latest electoral reforms.

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Speaking at a forum recently, Falana interrogated the acclaimed fairness of political requirement that demands humongous financial capacity of aspirants. He warned that such barriers undermine the principle of equal political participation.

The configuration of the current election structure favours only the millionaires and shut out professionals, workers, and young people.

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“All the young people are talking about, many people, is about electronic transmission of results from the polling unit to the, you know, non-localisation centre to the central server of INEC. It’s gone beyond that.

“If you look at that law, it’s saying if you want to contest for the Presidency of Nigeria, you must have 10 billion naira or I think 5 billion naira. That already excludes professors, workers, lawyers and the majority of Nigerians who are not billionaires.

Political elite sits to shape Nigerian laws based on their interest and never in the interest of the generality of the people.

“So the law is not neutral. It’s made by people in the National Assembly, who though are representing us, but who at the end of the day are representing the bourgeoisie. So, that is the nature of law. So, when you say rule of law, you say whose law? Whose rule? So, hence we go to court to defend just law.

“There are laws that, through struggle, members of the ruling class have been forced to enact. We go to court to defend those ones. And then for the bad ones, obnoxious laws, we challenge them in court and in our campaign.”

Barrister Femi Falana has faulted the huge cost involved in contesting presidential election, saying Nigeria’s political financing structure is only for billionaires, leaving the vast majority of citizens.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, who is a Human rights lawyer, condemned what he tagged the “financial barriers” built into Nigeria’s political system, described as unfortunate that this has escaped the latest electoral reforms.

Speaking at a forum recently, Falana interrogated the acclaimed fairness of political requirement that demands humongous financial capacity of aspirants. He warned that such barriers undermine the principle of equal political participation.

The configuration of the current election structure favours only the millionaires and shut out professionals, workers, and young people.

“All the young people are talking about, many people, is about electronic transmission of results from the polling unit to the, you know, non-localisation centre to the central server of INEC. It’s gone beyond that.

“If you look at that law, it’s saying if you want to contest for the Presidency of Nigeria, you must have 10 billion naira or I think 5 billion naira. That already excludes professors, workers, lawyers and the majority of Nigerians who are not billionaires.

Political elite sits to shape Nigerian laws based on their interest and never in the interest of the generality of the people.

“So the law is not neutral. It’s made by people in the National Assembly, who though are representing us, but who at the end of the day are representing the bourgeoisie. So, that is the nature of law. So, when you say rule of law, you say whose law? Whose rule? So, hence we go to court to defend just law.

“There are laws that, through struggle, members of the ruling class have been forced to enact. We go to court to defend those ones. And then for the bad ones, obnoxious laws, we challenge them in court and in our campaign.”

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