C/River LG poll: Parties protest high levies

The chairman of Intra-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Cross River State, Baron Eyo, has threatened to sue the State Electoral Commission (CROSIEC) over imposition of high levies on candidates for the 2017 local government election.

In previous elections, the chairmanship candidates were charged N70,000 for nomination form. But now, CROSIEC is demanding N350,000.

The councillorship candidates, who previously paid N25,000, are now asked to pay N150,000.

The chairmanship candidates are also asked to submit refundable and processing fees of N1.2 million, while the councillorship candidates are to pay N500,000.

Eyo, who said the charges were exploitative and exorbitant, described the development as unacceptable.

He called for a downward review and threatened to approach the court to help force the charges down.

In a communiqué issued after its meeting yesterday, IPAC said it was excluded from the formation of the guidelines for the election by CROSIEC.

The group said the exclusion was a deliberate act to allow the electoral body impose levies and extort candidates with impunity.

“The exorbitant financial demands by CROSIEC are meant to skew the election in favour of rich people who may not be the choice of the people because the popular aspirants may not be able to afford such high levies,” the IPAC stated in the communiqué.