Kingsley Moghalu, former presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Congress (YPP) and deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has advised the Federal Government to fund political parties in the country.
Moghalu, who is also a political economist, said this on Friday, against
the current delegate system used for party primaries, noting that most delegates participate for mutual benefits.
According to the former deputy governor of the CBN, government funding of political parties will stem corruption within the electoral system.
“One of my recommendations is that the government should fund political parties,” he said. “This was done in the time of the SDP and NRC that Babangida set up, a little to the right, a little to the left.
“And I think if you look at how much the government spends on other things – we spend N4 trillion on petrol subsidy – do you think we would need to spend N500 billion on funding political parties? It’s a policy and legislative choice. In many countries of the world, in Germany and Canada, the government funds political parties, so that what voters are deciding on are the issues, not who is giving more money.”
Moghalu lost the presidential ticket in Alliance for Democratic Congress (ADC) for the forthcoming general election in 2023.