Daud Olatunji
The Ogun State High Court, sitting in Abeokuta, has declared the administrative charges imposed by the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) on political parties ahead of the November 16 local government election as illegal, null, and void.
PLATFORM TIMES reports that the ruling is seen as a victory for the 16 political parties that challenged the fees, arguing they were unconstitutional and unlawful.
The plaintiffs in the case argued that the fees—set at N250,000 for each male chairmanship candidate, N150,000 for each male councillorship candidate, and N100,000 for each female chairmanship or councillorship candidate—violated the rights of candidates and their political parties.
They asked the court to nullify these fees and restrain OGSIEC from conducting the election as scheduled until their prayers were addressed.
In his judgement, Justice Tajudeen Okunsokan ruled in favour of the first two prayers by the political parties, describing them as “meritorious.”
He declared that the fees imposed on candidates were unconstitutional and ordered that they be set aside.
“In the final analysis, this Originating Summons succeeds in part as Reliefs One and Two are meritorious while Reliefs Three and Four lack merit. Judgment is hereby entered as follows,” Justice Okunsokan stated.
He continued: “The imposition of the payment of Administrative Fee in the sum of N250,000 on each Male Chairmanship Candidate, N150,000 on each Male Councillorship Candidate, and N100,000 on each Female Chairmanship or Councillorship Candidate contesting in the Ogun State Local Government Council Elections slated for 16th November 2024 on the platform of the Claimants is unconstitutional, illegal, null, and void. The imposition of these fees is hereby set aside.”
Justice Okunsokan, however, dismissed the other prayers by the plaintiffs, particularly their request to postpone the election, stating that these lacked merit.
The ruling comes after the Chairman of OGSIEC, Babatunde Osibodu, announced that the commission had already raised N70 million from these administrative charges.
Critics have argued that OGSIEC’s imposition of fees was a direct violation of a 2004 state high court ruling, which had previously barred the electoral body from charging candidates.
Despite this earlier judgement, Osibodu proceeded with the fee imposition, prompting backlash from political parties and legal experts.
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