From Ben Adaji, Jalingo
All Progressives Congress, APC, in Taraba State has described the imposition of fees to be paid by candidates contesting the forthcoming November 8 local government election as a deliberate strategy to disenfranchise other political parties from participating in the election.
State Chairman of the party, Ibrahim El-Sudi, who stated this during a press conference in Jalingo on Monday, disclosed that the Taraba State Independent Electoral Commission, TSIEC, imposed N1 million fee on chairmanship candidates and N500,000 for those seeking office of the vice chairman.
According to the guidelines, female candidates contesting for vice-chairmanship position would pay ₦250,000, male councillorship candidates ₦150,000 and female councillorship candidates ₦75,000, while persons with disabilities are exempted.
El-Sudi stated that TSIEC imposed the conditions contrary to the Supreme Court’s directive as stipulated in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and vowed that his party would challenge the imposition of the fees in court if not reversed immediately.
The APC chairman also called on Governor Agbu Kefas to prevail on TSIEC to delete the provision, explaining that the Supreme Court and the constitution stipulate that an electoral body shall not impose such conditions for candidates to participate in an election.
“We wish to call on Governor Kefas to prevail on TSIEC to delete the provision in the guidelines to avoid disenfranchisement of citizens.
“The position of the Supreme Court on candidates participating in an election is clear. The fee imposed as a condition is not in consonance with its stipulations.
“We view this as a strategy to disenfranchise other political parties from participating in the election. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is afraid to go into the election considering what happened in the Karim-Lamido by-election for a vacant state Assembly seat.
“We have gathered that the arrangement between PDP and TSIEC would exempt PDP candidates from paying the fees, which would instead be deducted from their salaries if they win. Even if such a condition is allowed, it should apply to all candidates without discrimination.
“We will go to court if TSIEC fails to withdraw the condition. This is not a law. It is a guideline and should be withdrawn,” the party insisted.
The APC chairman also appealed to the Board of Internal Revenue Service to reduce the fees for candidates seeking tax clearance certificates which is one of the conditions stipulated for candidates contesting the election, citing the current economic hardship.
“The tax clearance fees imposed on political parties candidates participating in the November 8 election are too high. We are not saying it should be free, but we are appealing for a reduction.
“The ₦1 million tax clearance fee for chairmanship and ₦500,000 for councillorship is too high considering the present economic hardship,” the party appealed.
He expressed optimism that Governor Kefas would intervene by prevailing on TSIEC and the Board of Internal Revenue to do the needful to avoid political disharmony between political parties and the two bodies.
