Renowned journalist and politician, Dele Momodu, has revealed that a former presidential candidate distributed $23.22 million among 774 delegates during the 2023 presidential primary elections.
This translates to $30,000 per delegate in a staggering display of monetized politicking.
Momodu made the disclosure during an interview on the Key to Keys podcast while addressing his political aspirations and the challenges of contesting for the presidency in Nigeria.
He ruled out the possibility of running for the presidency in 2027, citing the entrenched monetization of Nigeria’s political system.
Asked about his future political plans, Momodu said, “No, experience is the best teacher, and I have come to realise that there are powers you can describe as principalities that control Nigeria.
“Unless a major political party decides to adopt me through a consensus that Dele Momodu is best suited to change and lead Nigeria, then I can consider it.
“But if I have to pick my money to go and buy a presidential nomination form of about N100 million and the last one I spent about N50 million buying the form. This could have gotten me a property and it was a waste, nobody voted for me – not even one vote because everything was monetized.
“There was one of the candidates who paid as high as $30,000 per delegate and we had 774 delegates, so how do you compete with them? They have stolen the country blind and doing all kinds of deals to make money, especially those in the oil-rich areas.
“It’s not easy and that’s why you can’t compete with them – that’s why they insult Nigerians anyhow because of the amount of money available to them in raw cash. There is no country in the world where people control raw cash like Nigeria.
“The bulk of their money is not in any bank so they are not traceable. If today you ask some politicians that look you need $500 million to become a President, they will find it. So people like us where will I start from? I’m not bothered.”
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