Falana faults Nigeria’s political financing structure, says only billionaires can run

Falana

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has condemned what he calls the “financial barriers” built into Nigeria’s political system, arguing that the cost of running for president effectively excludes the vast majority of citizens.

Falana, speaking during a recent public discussion on electoral reforms which started trending on Thursday, questioned the fairness of political requirements that demand enormous financial capacity from aspirants. He warned that such barriers undermine the principle of equal political participation.

According to him, the financial realities of contesting elections in Nigeria favour only the wealthy while shutting 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.

Falana argued that Nigerian laws are often shaped by the interests of political elites rather than the public.

“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. Punch