A Presidential aspirant for the 2019 elections ion the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Christmas Akpodiete, has filed a suit at a Federal High Court in Abuja challenging the high cost of nomination fees imposed on aspirants seeking the election tickets of the various political parties. Akpodiete particularly listed the ruling APC, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and other registered political parties as defendants in the suit.

National Daily gathered that the APC presidential aspirant in the Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/951/2018, is seeking the court to restrain the APC and the PDP from going ahead with the scheduled primaries and if they do, he’s asking the court to declare such primaries null and void.

The Plaintiff is also seeking the court to restrain INEC from recognising such primaries, pending the determination of the substantive suit. He is protesting that the nomination fees charged by the political parties were not only ridiculous and unaffordable, but also unconstitutional.

Akpodiete also argues before the court that if the nomination fees are beyond that amount, the ordinary Nigerian worker who earns N18, 000 monthly would be deprived the capacity to achieve their constitutionally guaranteed right, which includes the right to run for public office.

“The nomination fees are repugnant to the rules of natural justice, equity and good conscience.

“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 offices in their own country, Akpodiete declared.

It was gathered that Akpodiete was compelled to take the legal action after he had written the APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, to prevail on the ruling party to cancel the high nomination fees or keep them within the minimum wage limit but his complaint was ignored.

APC has the highest cost of nomination fees in which the presidential aspirants were pat pay N55 million later reviewed to N45 million.