High Cost of Nomination Forms and Youth Exclusion in Nigeria’s Electoral Process: Issues for Legislative Intervention

Abstract

Despite the signing of the Not-Too-Young-To-Run Bill into law in 2018, the rising cost of nomination and expression of interest forms charged by political parties in Nigeria has become a major barrier to political participation, particularly for young Nigerians. Recently, in Ebonyi State, as reported in the media, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has set exorbitant nomination fees for its upcoming local government chairmanship elections, pegging the cost of nomination forms at around ₦30 million for aspirants. This fee is reportedly higher than the total official earnings a local government chairman would receive over a full four-year tenure, making it far beyond the reach of most ordinary youths and grassroots politicians. Civil society and youth organisations, including the Ohanaeze Youth Council, have criticised this pricing as a deliberate exclusion of young people and a factor that could encourage rent-seeking behaviour by those who can afford it. This deliberate high nomination and expression forms cost effectively turns local politics into a contest for the wealthy or well-connected, undermining democratic inclusion at the grassroots level. While the Constitution guarantees the right to contest elections, exorbitant nomination fees effectively restrict this right to wealthy individuals or those backed by powerful sponsors. This undermines democratic inclusion and weakens youth representation. It is against this backdrop that legislative intervention is necessary to regulate expression of interest and nomination fees to promote youth inclusion. This brief hereby recommends the following: i. The National Assembly may amend the Electoral Act 2022 to expressly empower INEC to regulate and approve nomination fees charged by political parties. Given that the current law excludes INEC from this process. The amendment should mandate political parties to submit their fee structures to INEC for oversight to prevent excessive and exclusionary charges. ii. ii. The National Assembly may amend the relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act, 2022, to introduce and operationalize independent candidacy in Nigeria’s electoral framework, thereby creating alternative pathways for candidate selection outside party structures.