A Federal High Court in Lagos has
ordered the Nigerian
Communications Commission and
five others to pay the All
Progressives Congress a sum of
N500m over unlawful shutting
down of its presidential campaign
fund-raising platform.
Apart from NCC, the other judgment
debtors are Etisalat, MTN Nigeria
Limited, Globacom Limited, Airtel
Nigeria Limited and Visafone
Communications Limited.
The monetary cost was awarded
against the six respondents
severally and jointly on Tuesday by
Justice Ibrahim Buba, who held that
the shutting down of APC
presidential campaign platform by
the respondent was unlawful and
constituted an infringement on the
party’s fundamental right.
The party, through its lawyer, Chief
Kola Awodein (SAN), had sued the
respondents, claiming N25bn in
damages for banning its
presidential campaign fund-raising
platform.
APC had 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.
The party claimed that it initiated
the participatory fund-raising
platform as a way of getting
members of the general public to
contribute N100 to its presidential
campaign fund each time they sent
APC as an SMS to 35350.
It, however, said that NCC, by a
letter dated January 19, 2015,
instructed the other respondents
to shut down the platform, warning
them “to avoid running political
advertisement/promotions that
will portray them as being
partisan.”
The commission was also said to
have threatened to sanction any of
the telecommunications service
providers which failed to comply
with the order.
But APC considered the NCC’s
instruction and the consequent
shutting down of its fund-raising
platform as both discriminatory and
an infringement on its fundamental
right protected by Section 39 of the
Constitution and Articles 9 (1) (2)
and 19 of the African Charter on
Human and People’s Rights
(Ratification and Enforcement) Act,
Cap. A9, Laws of the Federation of
Nigeria, 2004.
It argued that the NCC did not give
the same instruction to the other
respondents when the Peoples
Democratic Party set up the short
codes designated 6661, 662, 6663
and 6664, being managed by one
Wagitel Communications Limited to
raise funds for the campaign of
President Goodluck Jonathan and
his vice, Namadi Sambo, in 2010.
In an 18-paragragh affidavit
deposed to by one Ademola Sodiq,
the deponent averred that APC’s
strategy was borne out of its
commitment to raising fund for its
presidential campaign in a
“transparent and accountable
manner.”
According to Sodiq, within few
hours of launching the strategy, APC
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.
The party had, on January 28, 2015,
secured an interim order of the
court compelling the respondents
to immediately lift the embargo on
the applicant’s fund-raising
platform pending the
determination of the suit.
In determining the case on
Tuesday, Buba dismissed the
respondents’ objection to APC’s
claim, but instead of N25bn
damages sought by the political
party, the judge awarded N500m
against all the defendants.
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
