Communications Commission, NCC, to pay the All Progresives Congress,
APC, N500 million as damages for unlawfully banning its presidential
campaign fundraising platform.
Trial judge, Justice Ibrahim Buba handed down the order in its
judgment in the suit by the party against NCC, Etisalat, MTN Nigeria
Limited, Globacom Limited, Airtel Nigeria Limited and Visafone
Communications Limited.
The court held that APC was protected by the constitution to push for
the enforcement of its fundamental right once violated.
The court dismissed NCC's counter affidavit and held that the action
of respondents were illegal and unconstitutional.
The damages are to be pay jointly and severally by all the respondents.
APC had sued the commission, demanding N25bn as damages, for allegedly
banning its presidential campaign fund-raising platform. It had
accused the NCC of instructing Etisalat, MTN Nigeria Limited, Globacom
Limited, Airtel Nigeria Limited and Visafone Communications Limited 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 had 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 added 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 alleged to have also threatened to sanction any of
the telecommunications service providers which failed to comply with
the order.
APC, considering 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, headed to court.
It argued that the NCC did not give the same instruction to the other
respondents when the 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 his vice, Namadi Sambo, in 2010.
--Vanguard
No comments:
Post a Comment