Fred Ezeh, Abuja
As 2019 political activities gather momentum, the United Progressive Party (UPP) has announced that it will not sponsor a presidential candidate for the 2019 presidential election.
In alternative, the party said it would use the period and the 2023 general elections to consolidate its nationwide political structures and concentrate energy and resources in active participation in other elective contests.
UPP National Chairman, Chief Chekwas Okorie, told journalists, in Abuja, on Friday, that the decision was taken after extensive and critical deliberation by the members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party at a recent meeting in Abuja.
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He promised that the party will continue to explore the possibility of a constructive engagement with other political parties through alliance for electoral leverage and enhanced advantage in other democratic contests.
Meanwhile, the party said has abolished the usual payment of nomination fees by Nigerian youths from the age of 30 downwards, for all elective offices.
The decision, according to the party, was in the spirit of the recent Act of the National Assembly on the “Not Too Young To Run Law”. Other categories of beneficiary, it added, are women and the physically challenged.
He said the NEC has equally approved downward review of nomination fees for political office aspirants on the platform of the party in order to make participation in the elections affordable to eligible Nigerians.
“In this regard, the usual fee for Expression of Interest (EoI) has also been abolished,” he said.