The National Leadership of the Labour Party has said the N30m charged for nomination and expression of interest forms for the Edo State Governorship election will not be reduced.
The LP National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, who stated this in an interview with our correspondent on Sunday, appealed to all aspirants to source for the money.
Describing the Edo State governorship poll as a serious business, the LP Publicity Secretary wondered how any aspirant who could not raise N30m for forms would get money “to prosecute the main election that will cost you hundreds of millions.”
Ifoh spoke in response to the call by one of the aspirants of the Labour Party in the Edo State governorship election, Egbe Omorodion, on behalf of three others, calling on the party to review the N30m fee for forms.
Omorodion noted that there were other aspirants who felt the same way, but none had contacted him, adding that there would be a meeting on Monday (today) to harmonise their position and make it known to the party.
The party in the state had recently courted controversy when some aspirants and party members alleged that it had been hijacked by moneybags.
However, the Chairman of the party, Kelly Ogbaloi, debunked the claim, adding that the party would ensure a level playing ground for all the aspirants.
Already, the party has 34 aspirants who are vying to pick its ticket ahead of the primaries in February.
Omoridion said they were not compelling the party to bring down the price of the form, but they were appealing to the party leadership so that people with good intentions were not excluded from the process due to the price of the form.
He said he was struggling to strike a balance between his conscience and the price of the form, lamenting it could silence their supporters who wanted to be heard through the ballot.
