Kano Electoral Commission Defends N10million Paid To LG Candidates

The Kano State Independent Electoral Commission, on Tuesday, said there is no going back on the nomination fees for elective positions in the forthcoming Local Government election in the state.

The state electoral body recently announced that candidates vying for chairmanship positions would pay N10m to obtain nomination forms, while candidates contesting for councillorship positions would pay N5m before the October 18 deadline.

Speaking on the controversy generated by the announcement, the Executive Chairman of KANSIEC, Prof Lawan Malumfashi, said the decision on the N10m, N5m nomination forms was final.

He noted that the commission was independent and had taken the decision on the matter, adding that, “There is no going back on the amount earlier announced.”

He said, “We are not going to change or reduce it, there is no going back. It’s already in our guidelines and already a law to us.

It is not about encouraging money politics, everything is not the way it is now. We are also going to spend huge amounts, the materials and everything we are going to use must cost money so we are going to bear the cost too.”

“It may surprise you to know that those complaining bitterly are the officials of the New Nigeria People’s Party, the ruling party.

“We said very clearly that the inflation rate in this country has affected virtually everything because nothing in the market is free now.”

According to Malumfashi, the commission took into cognizance the population of voters in Kano, which was over six million, adding that election materials must be sufficient for them on election day.

He said, “Kano State is one state equal to three with 44 LGAs, 484 wards, 11,022 polling units, over six million voters and we are recruiting over 30,000 ad hoc staff.

“If we are claiming independence and we depend on the government, tell me how independent we are going to be?”

The electoral body set October 1 to commence sales of forms and October 18 for submission of all completed forms.

Meanwhile, the Kano State chapter of the NNPP has directed all caretaker chairmen and councillors in the 44 local government areas wishing to contest the LG elections in the state to resign their appointments at the end of the month.

The state Chairman of the party, Hashimu Dungurawa, gave the directive at a news conference in Kano, on Tuesday.

Dungurawa said the directive was necessary to enable them to prepare for the election.

He announced the party’s fees for nominations for the elections, stating that each chairmanship aspirant would pay N500,000 for nomination forms and N100,000 as fees for expression of interest, while those for councillorship positions would pay N150,000 for nomination forms and N50,000 as expression of interest fees.

He said the party fixed the “moderate fees,” considering the current economic hardships in the country.

He, however, endorsed the KANSIEC’s fees at N10m for chairmanship and N5m for councillorship elections, describing the charges as appropriate.

“The high fees for expression of interest forms will help ensure only credible candidates contest the elections,” Dungurawa said

He maintained that people contesting for the local government positions should be financially sound and demonstrate the ability to manage financial resources effectively.