Pat Utomi, professor of political economy, says portals to
enable Nigerians both home and abroad to donate funds to the campaign of Peter
Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party, will be launched next week.
The Labour Party chieftain said this on Sunday when he
featured on Sunday Politics, a programme on Channels Television.
The professor said there is nothing wrong with Nigerians in
the diaspora donating funds to political campaigns in Nigeria, adding that he
was a beneficiary of such when he contested to be president.
“When the time is right, the diaspora will give money. They
have always given money to campaigns. I ran for president before and got
support from the diaspora in 2006 and 2007 and then when I ran in 2011,” he
said.
“When the time is
right, we are going to obviously solicit from Nigerians across the board. We
are setting up portals where people can give money.
“These portals are not up yet. They would be up next week or
so and eventually we are going to be able to access resources from the diaspora
for sure. But right now, we are on a sensitisation tour about what makes
democracy work. Right now, Nigeria’s democracy is not working because of the
transaction cost involved and the trade-off that has to be made.”
Asked if donating money from abroad to fund campaigns is not
in contravention of extant laws, Utomi said no law should oppose the funding of
political rallies from the diaspora.
“I am completely
aware of what the law says. If we open a portal and say Nigerians who want to
support what we stand for should contribute to it. If you say Nigerians abroad
can’t go to a portal and contribute a dollar and those at home. First of all,
you have prevented them from voting,” he said.
“Every other African country manages to allow their diaspora
to vote – Ghana, Kenya, everybody. In
Nigeria, they can’t vote because Nigerian politicians are afraid that because
they are more clear-thinking voters, they will not likely win elections.
“Currently, bad-performing politicians are afraid that
right-thinking Nigerians abroad will vote. Now you say they can’t even give
N100 to a candidate. Are you clear with what you are saying?
“What we are saying is that we are going to have a portal
that every Nigerians can go in and make their contribution. What can be more
democratic than that? If there is a law that opposes that, that law is
fundamentally flawed and does not deserve the name of the law.”
Utomi’s remarks have generated mixed reactions from
Nigerians, with some saying funding campaigns from abroad violates the
country’s laws.
The 1999 constitution and the 2022 Electoral Act prohibit
political parties from taking funds donated from abroad.
Section 85 of the 2022 Electoral Act, says no political
party must “holds or possesses any fund outside Nigeria” or “retains any fund
or other asset remitted to it from outside Nigeria” in contravention of section
225 (3) of the constitution.
In both cases, the Act stipulates that upon conviction, the
punishment shall be forfeiture of such funds or assets in addition to a
N5,000,000 fine.
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