By Bolaji Buhari
Lagos – The Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Lagos on Monday suspended its planned protest march against the high administrative fees imposed on candidates contesting the July 22 council polls in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that IPAC complained about the high fees imposed on candidates by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC).
The council, composed of 22 registered political parties in the state, suspended the protest at the end of its emergency meeting in Lagos on Monday.
NAN reports that 19 of the 22 political parties present endorsed the suspension following LASIEC’s decision to reduce the administrative fees.
The IPAC members said the electoral commission had written them on its review of the fees downward from N100,000 to N50,000 for Chairmanship candidates, N75,000 to N30,000 for Vice-Chairman and N50,000 to N20,000 for councillorship candidates.
Speaking at the meeting, the IPAC Chairman, Mr Kola Ajayi said the planned protest was no more necessary as LASIEC had acceded to the request of the political parties.
He commended LASIEC for the concession and lauded political parties for the unity of purpose with which they opposed the initial fees.
“This is a remarkable resolution as there is no need for us to embark on the planned march since LASIEC has agreed to slash the fees.
“We are happy we started from N150,000 for the chairmanship candidates, then we negotiated with LASIEC to N100,000 and we have succeeded to get it further reduced to N50,000.
“This is what democracy is all about. We thank LASIEC for listening to us and we thank all the political parties for being resolute,” he said.
Ajayi said the council executive had met Justice Ayotunde Phillips, Chairman of the commission on Friday on the need for a downward review and that she promised to respond to the request.
The IPAC chairman however, expressed the hope that the election would be free and fair.
Ajayi expressed worry over the recent cases of violence at the mock primary of a political party recently.
He said that the council was engaging security agencies on how to avert violence in the party primaries and the polls.
“We met with the Commissioner of Police, Mr Fatai Owoseni and he assured us of protection at our party primaries.
“We are passionate about the success of the election and we will continue to engage stakeholders to make that happen,” he said.
Meanwhile, the National Conscience Party(NCP), the only party that voted against the suspension, condemned the downward review.
The state chairman of the party, Mr Fatai Ibu-Owo said during the meeting that anything short of outright cancellation of the fees was not acceptable to the party.
“NCP is disappointed that other parties are cheering the review. We will insist that the fees, even if they are lower than that, are illegal.
“We are already challenging the illegal fees in court and we are sure of justice against these fees,” he said.
Ibu-Owo accused the other political parties of colluding with LASIEC to put a question mark on the credibility of the poll.
NAN reports that LASIEC has fixed July 22 for the council polls and July 29 for runoff.
