APC, others sued over costly nomination forms

A presidential aspirant on the platform of APC, Mr Christmas Akpodiete, has sued the ruling party, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and other registered political parties over cost of nomination forms for the 2019 polls.

The case was instituted in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/951/2018 at the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja.

Akpodiete is seeking the court to restrain the APC and PDP from going ahead with their scheduled primary elections and if they do, wants the court to declare such primaries null and void.

Akpodiete is also asking the court to restrain INEC from recognizing such primaries, pending the determination of the substantial suit.

He is of the opinion that the nomination fees charged by political parties were not only “ridiculous and unaffordable,” but unconstitutional.

“It’s an attempt by the Nigerian political oligarchs to make nonsense of the just passed Not Too Young To Run law and it is a calculated move to deprive the Nigerian people their constitutionally guaranteed right to run for public office in their own country,” he said.

Akpodiete is asking the court to give a judicial breath to the matter by pegging the nomination fees for all elective positions at N18,000 “because that is the national minimum wage of the country.”