Senator Godswill Akpabio has said the country is poor but lamented that Nigeria should not have been one.
The former Akwa Ibom governor said this on Thursday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today. Akpabio spoke while reacting to a question about the N100m presidential nomination form of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Nigeria is not supposed to be a poor country but at the moment is a poor country as a result of a lot of factors,” the APC chieftain said during the show.
As far as he is concerned, the N100m fee is a fair deal, explaining that the aspirants do not necessarily need to raise the money themselves.
“The N100m in my view is very fair. You see, even in modern democracies like America, it is not the candidate that sends himself into presidential elections; it is the people,” the former Senate Minority leader said.
“So, when you talk about Nigeria, just 100 Nigerians bringing out N1m will give you N100m.”
“I want to think that any serious presidential candidate does not need to go into his bank account and bring out N100m because you are not the person going to vote for yourself,” the minister of Niger Delta Affairs argued.
“That is provided for even in the Electoral Act that the people should also contribute in order to ensure a very fantastic campaign. So, if the people have your buy-in in your coming into power, then you should also remember that you have an obligation to deliver and to satisfy them.”