After a while, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and former Governor of Lagos State and ex-Imo State governor and senator representing Imo West, Rochas Okorocha, have both picked up the Nomination and Expression of Interest Forms at one hundred million naira (₦100,000,000) each, which equals two hundred million naira (₦200,000,000) if put together.
The decision was made ahead of the presidential convention of the party coming up soon as it was gathered that James Faleke, member of the House of Representatives for Ikeja Federal Constituency, was said to have led certain members of the Tinubu Support Group, TSG, to acquire the cost for Bola Tinubu.
Asked if certain aspirants from the South West posed a threat to Tinubu’s ambition, he said that the APC chieftain is the only one they recognise, and when asked about Tinubu’s preferred mode of primary, Faleke said the former Lagos State governor was prepared for any option adopted by the party stakeholders.
It has become commonplace for groups to step out of the blue and claim to share the aspirations of a politician in the guise to simply purchase forms for them to participate in various elections.
However, there are arguments in different polities that the political groups are just fronts by politicians who do not want to draw attention to themselves in order to avoid being under the radar of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for spending questionable ₦100m to be part of a presidential race.
Also among those that picked the form on behalf of Tinubu was former Secretary to Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.