Delivering a judgement in Enugu on Tuesday, Justice Reuben Onuorah ordered the commission to refund N200,000 and N50,000 paid by APC chairmanship and councillorship candidates respectively for the Nov. 2, 2013 council elections.
Onuorah said the deposits should be refunded to the candidates who were eventually disqualified from contesting the elections.
The eight candidates of the party comprising one chairmanship candidate, Mr Christian Odo, and seven councillorship candidates filed a suit demanding the refund of the expression of interest deposit following their disqualification by ENSIEC.
The APC counsel, Mr John Nwobodo, submitted that since the candidates did not participate in the elections, ENSIEC should refund the N550,000 to eight of them.
Nwobodo argued that the non-refundable fees were meant for those who eventually contested in the elections.
According to him, deposit means something entrusted for safe keeping and should be collected when needed. It should not be imposed on any candidate.
The counsel described the judgement as `a landmark and victory for the APC’.
ENSIEC was absent in court during the judgement but when contacted, its Legal Adviser, Mrs Sarah Madu, said it would appeal against the judgement.
“A non-refundable deposit should not be refunded once you applied to contest in an election. It is also a pecuniary fund paid to express your interest and should not be refunded if you fail to meet the requirement,’’ she said. (NAN)
