After throwing 133 million Nigerians into poverty, the APC has unveiled a mobile crowdfunding channel for the campaign of its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.
All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), on Tuesday, unveiled a mobile channel for crowdfunding for the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-Kashim Shettima presidential project ahead of the 2023 general elections.
This comes as the Federal Government, in its 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index Survey released by the National Bureau of Statistics, on Thursday, November 17, said over 130 million Nigerians (63 percent of the nation’s population) are poor.
The QR code-enabled platform was initiated to give Nigerians who believe and share the vision of the Tinubu-Shettima presidential ticket to contribute towards the realisation of the project.
The APC presidential campaign team targets a raise of N5 billion from the crowdfunding platform known as “BlessMi”, launched at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Donors can freely donate to the project, using the QR Code. The amount ranges from the least currency denomination to any amount affordable.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, speaking at the fundraiser, described the approach as another “creative way” of using the technology to democratise funding for political activities. He said the mobile platform would offer opportunity to Nigerians supporting APC to be part of the process of forming the next Federal Government.
The Governor said every little contribution received from the channel would matter in funding the APC’s presidential campaign council’s activities across the federation.
“There is no better place to launch this innovative project than Lagos, which is the nation’s hub of innovation and technology.
“This fundraising effort speaks to our support and those who share the vision of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu-Kashim Shettima presidential ticket to have an input to the realisation of the project. The ticket strongly considers the interest of every Nigerian, regardless of social status or ethnic origin.
“This campaign is about people and people have been asking how they can participate to contribute their effort to the overall success of the campaign.
“This is why we used our creative minds and leveraged technology as innovative ways to create access for people towards supporting our party’s presidential campaign. People can donate through their mobile phones and be part of this campaign. Every donation, no matter how small the amount is, will matter and take its proper place,” he said.
In his remarks, Lagos Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, hailed the APC Fund Raising Committee for the initiative, noting that the mobile platform would democratise election funding.