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Presidential Aspirant In Opposition PDP Sues Party, Electoral Body, INEC Over ‘Exorbitant Nomination Fees’

It also says the imposition of fees for nomination forms and expression of interest forms by the PDP is an attempt to disenfranchise the petitioner.

A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a presidential aspirant, Ayoola Falola, has sued his party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for failing to yield his petition to either reduce the presidential nomination form or make it free for aspirants.

The petitioner filed the suit, with suit number FHC/IB/CS/67/2022, on the 5th of May, in the Federal High Court Ibadan, through his counsel, Oluwadamilare Awokoya Esq.

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In the suit, whose preliminary hearing will be this Thursday, Falola prayed the court to compel his party and INEC to yield to his petition or nullify the outcome of the party’s presidential primary election if they fail to yield to his petition.

According to the suit, the petitioner claimed that the defendants lack the power to issue conditions or guidelines requesting for the payment of nomination forms and expression of interest forms from the claimants or any other member aspiring to contest for a public office in the upcoming general election of 2023 in Nigeria under the platform of the first defendant in addition to those provided under Section 84(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022 and Sections 65, 66, 106, 107, 131, 137, 177, 187, 224 and 15(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

According to the petition, the petitioner claimed he has all the necessary qualifications to run for the office of the president of Nigeria in 2023 as required by the constitution of the country.

The petition reads in part that the fee for the expression of interest form of the PDP for the Office of the President is the sum of N5,000,000 and the fee for nomination form is the sum of N35,000,000.

The petition says the fees for the nomination form and expression of interest form have thwarted the continued consummation of the claimant’s aspiration to run for the office of the president of Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It also says the imposition of fees for nomination forms and expression of interest forms by the PDP is an attempt to disenfranchise the petitioner.

The petition also states that the petitioner wrote a letter to his party and its National Chairman dated 25th March 2022 to notify them of his reservation and petition as regards the nomination fees but he has not received any response from them.

The petition prays the court to direct INEC not to recognise the PDP candidate who would emerge in the coming presidential primaries or to exclude or remove the name of any candidate that emerges from the presidential primaries and any other primaries conducted by the first defendant and second defendant for failure to comply with the provisions of Section 84(3) of the Electoral Act to wit: a collection of monies for nomination forms and expression of Interest forms from members aspiring to contest in the party’s primaries.

“The available option I have is to approach this court with the filing of this suit. Court has the power to grant all the reliefs sought in the originating summons,” the petition says.

“It is in the interest of justice to grant the reliefs sought in the originating summons.”

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