High nomination fees have become a serious barrier to political participation in Nigeria as political parties continue to commercialize access to the electoral process, turning simple democratic processes into a practice of the highest bidder. Parties openly restrict participation to wealthy aspirants by setting huge costs of nomination and expression of interest forms, undermining the inclusiveness that should define democracy.

In the build-up to the 2023 general elections, the All Progressives Congress fixed its presidential nomination form at ₦100 million, while the Peoples Democratic Party set its fee at ₦40 million, figures widely considered outrageous, particularly for the young and middle class. The APC fixed the cost of nomination forms for Governorship at N50million, while the PDP pegged N21million for Governorship.

These fees reflect a sharp increase over time. The APC, for instance, raised its presidential nomination fee from ₦45 million in 2019 to ₦100 million in 2023, highlighting the growing monetization of party primaries.

Beyond the cost of nomination forms, the APC and PDP primaries were reportedly heavily monetized, making ordinary Nigerians perceive aspiration to elective positions as an exclusive preserve of the rich. For this reason, many critics consider Nigeria’s democracy to be for sale, a system where access depends more on economic capacity than political competence.

Civil society groups, including YIAGA Africa, warn that high nomination fees deepen political exclusion, marginalizing young aspirants and undermining the objectives of the Not Too Young To Run Act, which aims to broaden access to political participation.

According to Yiaga Africa, the expensive nature of Nigeria’s politics has been established to be a structural barrier to women’s and youth’s political participation; thus, it is saddening to see that political parties, which remain the primary medium for contesting elections in the country, continue to perpetuate this injustice.

Similarly, the Unified Nigeria Youth Forum, UNYF, also decried the rising cost of nomination forms imposed by political parties. The forum expressed that Nigeria’s democracy cannot grow when capable young Nigerians are financially excluded from contesting elective positions. Political participation should be driven by competence and ideas, not by the depth of one’s pocket.

Globally, the cost of political participation is significantly lower. In the United Kingdom, the Electoral Commission sets a £500 refundable deposit for parliamentary candidates. In the United States, filing fees vary by state and can often be replaced with signature requirements, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Similarly, South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission requires parties to pay election deposits, such as R200,000 for national elections. By contrast, Nigerian presidential aspirants in 2023 paid up to ₦100 million to secure party tickets, placing a far heavier financial burden on individuals.

The high costs of aspiration, coupled with the heavily monetized primary election processes, have effectively restricted the leadership options before Nigerians to a cabal of elites. While these options often do not satisfy the leadership aspirations of the people, they are endlessly forced to settle for the available.

It is easy to infer therefore, that the continued disillusion with the electoral process and the options that it throws up, contribute significantly to voter apathy and the high level of distrust between Nigerian citizens and their leaders.

In a report published by Dataphyte, Nigeria recorded only 26.72% voter turnout in the 2023 election. This suggests that the people may have decided to leave politics and governance to the privileged few, since ordinary people are unable to bear the high cost of participation.

When people don’t feel connected to the candidates on the ballot, they are less likely to take part in the process. Only about 24.9 million of Nigeria’s roughly 93.5 million registered voters cast ballots, the lowest turnout since 1999, according to election results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Unless parties deliberately ease the complications around internal party processes, high nomination costs, costly primary elections, and other related humongous expenses will continue to shut many Nigerians out of politics. While parties insist that the money is needed to run their activities, the negative impact of costly politics far outweigh the positives.

As many Nigerians look forward to 2027 with damp spirits, it is hoped that political parties will lower the costs associated with aspiration, and throw the gates open to competent aspirants.