Kaduna LG Election: Labour Party Flays N2m Fee On Chairmanship Candidates
- Threatens legal action against KAD-SIECOM
- Demands reversal to initial fees
BY VICTOR BUORO – Ahead of the planned Local Government Councils’ elections in Kaduna State, the Labour Party (LP) has rejected the N2 million fee imposed on interested Chairmanship candidates by the State Independent Electoral Commission (KADSIECOM).
This is coming on the heels of KADSIECOM’s directives that councillorship candidates must also cough out N500,000 to confirm their eligiblity and participation in the forthcoming poll.
Accordingly, the opposition party has threatened to drag the electoral body to court if it does not back down and maintain the initial fees of N200,000 for Chairmanship candidates and N50,000 for Councilors.
The LP State Chairman, Alhaji Awwal Tafoki described as “unacceptable” the newly introduced fees by the commission, alleging there are pointers that the election Commission has an hidden agenda to discourage opposition parties from featuring in the elections.
Tafoki told journalists at the party’s State office in Kaduna that; “The Labour Party rejects the fees for the forms. We cannot afford N2 million for Chairmen and N500,000 for Councilors.
“This is unacceptable, and we call on KADSIECOM to revert to the previous fees or face legal action”.
Further expressing concerns that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) could be planning to prevent other parties from participating in the poll through the sudden fees’ hike, the LP Chairman urged Governor Uba Sani to intervene and call the Commission to order to avoid being considered complicit in the matter.
He also said current developments are further strengthening the Party’s belief that KADSIECOM lacks the integrity and capacity to conduct free and fair local government elections.
However, Tafoki said current happenings notwithstanding, the LP is willing to give the election Commission the benefit of doubt.
For him, the shenanigans always displayed by so-called State independent election bodies present adequate reasons for the Federal Government, through the National Assembly (NASS), to work on allowing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) take over the conduct of local government elections across the country.
