The Political Battle for a Party Ticket
In the Nigerian political system, the journey to securing an elective office begins with more than just personal ambition. It involves creating a strong awareness and belonging to the right powerful caucus that can positively protect political interests. This is the first step in the battle for an elective office seeker. However, the second leg of this journey is the battle for a political party’s ticket to become the substantial candidate.
The Nigerian political system is dynamic and sometimes confusing. It is a system where the best candidate does not always emerge. Sometimes, the most popular candidate also does not have the way, as part of the irony of democracy. From consensus to indirect and direct primaries, experience has shown that party leaders, including the President, governors, chairman, and elders of the party, would have decided who to pick as candidate before validating their choice through a suitable direct primary method that protects their interest.
What Shapes Primaries
Primaries come after months of consultations, late-night meetings with powerbrokers, and the purchase of costly nomination forms by aspirants. For many aspirants, this is the point where political ambition either crystallises into a ticket or collapses under the weight of financial demands, elite bargaining, and delegate negotiations.
On paper, party primaries are democratic exercises in which delegates freely choose candidates based on competence, ideas, and political vision. But the reality is often decided long before ballots are cast. Behind the official procedures lies a complex system of negotiations, alliances, and financial inducements that quietly determine who eventually flies the party flag.
Hidden Power of Delegates
In theory, delegates represent grassroots party members and serve as the electoral college that determines candidates. In practice, however, the delegates themselves are products of intense internal struggles. Before primaries even begin, politicians often invest heavily in party congresses where ward, local government, and state executives are chosen.
The elected officials, particularly the chairman, secretary, treasurer, youth leader, women leader, later form the backbone of the delegate system, and their sponsors consider them allies who will automatically vote for them during primaries.
Cost of Primaries, Nomination Forms
Even before lobbying delegates begins, aspirants must first overcome a major financial barrier, which is the purchase of nomination and expression of interest forms. These fees alone run into tens of millions of naira.
During the 2023 election cycle, the ruling All Progressives Congress charged governorship aspirants N50m: N10m for the expression of interest form and N40m for the nomination form. The Peoples Democratic Party charged N21m for the same position. For many aspirants, the cost represents only the beginning of a long financial journey.
Beyond official fees lies a far larger and less visible cost: aspirants must fund consultations with party leaders, campaign logistics, publicity, mobilisation, and endorsement groups. These logistics range from transportation for supporters and delegates to media campaigns, billboards, and grassroots mobilisation.
When Consensus Is Negotiated
While some primaries end with voting among delegates, others are resolved through what parties describe as consensus or adoption. Consensus arrangements are meant to prevent internal divisions. But experience has shown that consensus often emerges from intense negotiations among political stakeholders.
According to Alagbonsi, some aspirants enter the race not necessarily to win but to negotiate withdrawal deals. “Most aspirants are not actually interested in the position; they are tipped by more ambitious aspirants to pretend as genuine contenders and later step down before the primary,” Alagbonsi stated.
Such arrangements often involve financial settlements once an aspirant agrees to withdraw. Though the amounts are rarely disclosed publicly, insiders say they can run into tens or even hundreds of millions of naira depending on the political office involved.
Beyond Primary Cost
Beyond nomination fees and delegate mobilisation lies a web of additional expenses that many aspirants are entangled with: campaign posters, billboards, media advertisements, rallies, and political consultations all require significant funding.
Organising a single political rally, insiders say, involves renting venues, hiring sound systems, transporting supporters, and providing logistics for participants. There are also social expectations placed on political aspirants.
In many communities, once a politician declares interest in public office, residents approach them with personal requests ranging from school fees to medical assistance. “These are costs you cannot escape, in many cases they exceed the cost of purchasing nomination forms. Nigeria is an impoverished country, when people hear you want to contest elections, they bring their personal problems to you,” Alagbonsi said.
When Politics Becomes Investment
Analysts say the financial intensity of party primaries has wider implications for governance. When aspirants spend heavily to secure party tickets, politics can begin to resemble a financial investment rather than public service.
Alagbonsi believes this partly explains why some elected officials focus on recovering campaign expenses after assuming office. “They see supporters as people who have already been paid. So their focus becomes recovering the money they spent during the election,” he said.
The Real Contest Begins
Yet despite the intense negotiations and financial pressures of primaries, securing a party ticket is only the beginning. The real contest begins after that, as the candidate faces the challenges of running a successful election campaign and governing effectively.