By Musa Baba Adamu
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has released the timetable for its primary polls ahead of the by-elections into vacant positions in the national and state houses of assembly.
Some lawmakers in the national and state houses of assembly have been sacked by the courts, others have been appointed into the federal cabinet, while some have passed on — leaving their seats vacant.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has since fixed February 3 for the conduct of the by-elections across the country.
Umar Bature, national organising secretary of the PDP, in a notice on Tuesday, said expression of interest and nomination forms for the senate, house of representatives, and state houses of assembly would cost N3.5 million, N2.5 million, and N600,000 respectively.
The organising secretary said the sale of the forms would commence on December 28 and end on January 3, 2024.
Bature said the screening of aspirants would hold on January 4.
He further said the party’s primary election would be conducted on January 8.
Bature said female aspirants and persons living with disabilities (PWDs) interested in contesting any of the elections are to only purchase the expression of interest form, noting that the nomination is free.
He added that youths between the ages of 25 and 40 years interested in contesting are to purchase the expression of interest forms with a discount of 50 percent on the nomination form.
The lawmaker said the Diaspora Commission has come a long way, given its contribution to nation-building; hence, the commission should have an independent budget away from the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to him, some agencies haven’t been doing the much that NiDCOM has been doing but they enjoy an independent budget, stressing that independent budgetary provision would enhance the agency’s productivity.
Umeh said NiDCOM remitted the sum of $24 billion into the government’s coffers in 2022, a development that, he insisted, should attract government attention.
He decried the inadequate budgetary allocation to NiDCOM in the 2024 Appropriation, noting that it cannot discharge its statutory responsibility maximally.
According to him, there is a need to provide funds to organise the Diaspora Investment Summit in Canada, America, the United Kingdom, and other parts of the world to bring Nigerians together to partner with federal and state governments for investments.
He said: “Nigerians, who generate money from the diaspora, have various needs and challenges that require NiDCOM attention and supervision, saying that the commission was not adequately funded to discharge the duties.
“This one is critical, the Diaspora Investment Summit; that one has economic value; you cannot quantify the amount of money they remit to Nigeria—$24 billion in 2022 alone.”
He said the committee approved the insertion of five new line items amounting to N1 billion from the proposed N2.5 billion for approval by the Appropriations Committee.
Meanwhile, various committees have been submitting their reports since Monday to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, chaired by Senator Solomon Adeola Olamilekan
