The All Progressives Congress on Wednesday secured an interim injunction, overruling the ban on its fund-raising platform by the Nigerian Communications Commission pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The ex-parte application brought by its counsel, Dr. Muiz Banire, was granted by Justice Ibrahim Buba of a Federal High Court in Lagos.
Justice Buba ordered that the defendants should immediately reactivate the applicant’s presidential campaign fund-raising SMS platform.
The judge also granted the applicant the leave to serve the respondents the originating summons and other processes outside the court’s jurisdiction.
Justice Buba adjourned till February 4, 2014 to hear the substantive suit.
Meanwhile, the APC has asked the court to compel the NCC to pay it N25bn as damages for banning its presidential campaign fund-raising platform.
Joined with the NCC as respondents in the suit, marked FHC/L/CS/16/15, are Etisalat, MTN Nigeria Limited, Globacom Limited, Airtel Nigeria and Visafone Communications Limited.
In an 18-paragragh affidavit deposed to by one Ademola Sodiq, the APC accused the NCC of instructing the 2nd to 6th respondents to discontinue an SMS platform it created for the purpose of getting donations from willing members of the public for its presidential campaign.
Sodiq said the participatory fund-raising strategy was for members of the public to contribute N100 to the APC’s presidential campaign fund each time they sent the APC as an SMS to 35350.
He explained that the party’s strategy was borne out of its commitment to raising fund for its presidential campaign in a “transparent and accountable manner.”
The deponent said that within few hours of launching the strategy the party was getting about four to five text messages per minute and had received a total of 5,400 SMS before the NCC directed the telecommunications service providers to discontinue the scheme.
Sodiq said, “Shortly after the applicant announced its participatory fund-raising strategy on Tuesday, January 20, 2015, the first respondent immediately addressed a letter to the 2nd respondent, which was received in Lagos, wherein a purported directive was given to all telecommunications service providers (2nd to 6th respondents inclusive), warning them ‘to avoid running political advertisement/promotions that will portray them as being partisan.”
According to Sodiq, the NCC in the letter with reference number NCC/CAB/GEN/2015/Vol.1/004 and back-dated January 19, 2015 also threatened to sanction the telecommunications service providers if they failed to discontinue the SMS forthwith. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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Of course, he who pays the piper dictates the tune. NCC cannot do otherwise in the season of impunity. Nigerians are wiser now and come February 14th , we shall all witness the repeat of the voting pattern that characterized the June 12th 1993 election that was adjudged by both local and international observers as the freest & fairest election ever conducted in Nigeria.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to raise funds let it be transparent like PDP did not this your dubiouse way of collecting funds from Arab nations
ReplyDelete