TEN LAWYERS DRAG INEC, AGF TO COURT OVER PARTY NOMINATION FEES
Three Senior Advocates of Nigeria are leading a team of ten lawyers in a suit against the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, over the money contest which political parties in Nigeria have turned election cycles into.
The suit, instituted by the board of trustees of a non-profit organisation, the Public Interest Advocacy Network,is seeking to compel INEC to regulate the fees being charged by the political parties as expression of interest to contest any elective office in Nigeria.
According to the court documents sighted by Signature Television reporter, the plaintiffs are asking the federal high court in Abuja to declare that the excessive and prohibitive amount charged by the political parties as expression of interest fees violates the constitutional rights of Nigerians as provided in section 14 (2)(C), 40,42, 131 and 177 to be voted for once they meet the educational threshold.
They also want the court to declare that the INEC has a constitutional and statutory duty under the constitution and the electoral act,.2022,.to regulate and enforce a uniform and reasonable nomination fee structure for all political parties to prevent financial disenfranchisement of eligible aspirants to any elective office.
The plaintiffs want the nomination fee structure to be regulated and enforced by INEC to be such that any Nigerian earning the national minimum wage can afford to pay and contest for any position for which he otherwise qualified.
The suit which is expected to ignite a political firestorm because the political parties are not joined, is yet to be assigned to any judge.
