Justice Ibrahim Buba of a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos today directed the NigerianCommunications Commission (NCC), to pay a damage sum to the tune of N500 million in favour of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), over unlawful banning of the party's presidential campaign fund raising platform.
Delivering judgment in a suit filed by the opposition party against NCC, Etisalat, MTN Nigeria Limited, Globacom Limited, Airtel Nigeria Limited and VisafoneCommunications Limited, the judge declared that APC is backed by the constitution to seek enforcement of its fundamental right once violated.
Justice Buba, while insisting that the action of the respondents remains illegal and unconstitutional, ordered that the damage sum is to be paid jointly and severally by all the respondents.
It would be recalled that the APC had dragged the NCC to court, requesting for a damage sum to the tune of N25 billion for allegedly banning its presidential campaign fund-raising platform.
The party had also accused the NCC of dishing out instructions to the telecommunications companies, to discontinue an SMS platform it created, aimed at getting donations from willing members of the public for its presidential campaign.
The opposition party argued that it created 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.
However, APC contended that NCC, through a letter dated January 19, 2015, instructed the telecommunications companies to shut down the platform, with a warning that, "To avoid running political advertisement/promotions that will portray them as being partisan."
It also posited that the commission equally threatened to sanction any of the telecommunications service providers that fails to comply with the directive.
The opposition party also described the commission's instruction and subsequent shutting down of its fund-raising platform as both discriminatory and an infringement on its fundamental right as guaranteed 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 further contended that the NCC did not give same instruction to the other respondents when the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 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 Vice President Namadi Sambo, in 2010.
Photo credit: Thisday
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