Kano Electoral Commission reduces nomination fees for LG Poll
The Kano State Independent Electoral Commission(KANSIEC) has slashed the cost of nomination forms for the Chairmanship and Councillorship positions for the Oct. 26 local government councils poll.
The Chairman of the commission,Prof.Sani Malumfashi, said this at a news briefing in Kano on Friday, saying that the action was in compliance with a court order.
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, restrained the commission from charging or imposing N10million and N5 million on contestants for the chairmanship and councillorship positions in the councils poll.
The state electoral commission, while announcing the conduct of the election, fixed N10million for chairmanship and N5 million for councillorship as nomination charges payable before Oct. 18.
The announcement generated controversy as both the opposition parties and the ruling New Nigeria People’s Party condemned the decision.
“We are a law-abiding organization and as such,we are complying with the court order and therefore reducing the nomination fees to N9 million for chairmanship and N4 million for councillorship positions,”Malumfashi said.
He said the nomination forms bearing the new fees were already in some designated banks and would be on sale from Monday and advised candidates of the various political parties partaking in the elections to access them.
He commended the All Progressives Congress(APC) and other opposition political parties for their decision to partake in the election, describing it as a welcome development.
“Their decision to participate in the forthcoming election means that they trust and believe in us as an Electoral Commission,and this is a welcome development,”the Chairman said.
He said the date of the election remained Oct. 26,and that party primaries for the selection of candidates for the poll would end on Sept.14.
He urged all candidates participating in the elections to conduct decent campaigns devoid of foul language and personal attacks on individuals.
“They should play the game by the rules and focus on issues such as poverty, unemployment, inflation and education in their campaigns,and not personal attacks on individuals,”Malumfashi added.
