APC leaders asked me if I had money when I wanted to run for governorship in 2015 – Bugaje

A former Political Adviser to the Presidency, Dr. Usman Bugaje, says most political parties in Nigeria are run on cash and carry basis, making it easier for criminals to emerge as leaders.
Bugaje made the observation Saturday in Yola, Adamawa State while presenting a paper titled: “Peace, Conflict and Development: The Leadership Question,” at a public lecture organized by the Adamawa Community Advancement Initiative.
Bugaje said until something was done to sanitize the nation’s politics, there was no way the country could develop.
He said: “Most of our political parties today are largely run be mercenaries who run a cash and carry system which has no business with any form of qualification, much less character, all it cares for is the cash you can pay.
“As a result of this crooks find it easier to get elected into political office than the good and competent.”
Bugaje said Nigerians needed to take the issue of good leadership seriously for the needed change to happen in fixing the country.
He said: “We can’t fix this country until we can fix its leadership.
“We can’t fix its leadership until we can fix its politics, whence the leadership comes.
“We can’t fix its politics until we fix the parties which hosts and run the leadership recruitment mechanism.”
Bugaje, who lamented his experience as an All Progressives Congress governorship aspirant in Katsina State during 2015 primaries, said political parties needed to be fixed and rescued from mediocrity.
He added: “If you want to contest election today in any political party, the first thing the party leaders will ask you is whether you have money; no one cares about your character or how you made the money.”
In his welcome address, the Convener of ACAI, Mallam Bashiru Ahmad, said it was an NGO formed to serve as a platform for Adamawa State citizens to come together and discuss challenges of good governance and sustainable development in the state.