By Okey Maduforo Awka
More political parties have expressed their dismissal of the N50 million campaign permit fee announced by the Anambra state government.
The Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Comrade Patrick Obianyo, while making the rejection contended that it is a rip off on parties and their candidate.
According to Obianyo, during a press briefing on Thursday in Awka, the imposition of a N50 million fee for a governorship candidate to run campaign advertisements is unprecedented in the country.
“Just yesterday, the government of Soludo stated that any candidate contesting the governorship election must pay N50 million for campaign posters. This includes flyers, face caps, and vehicle branding. This is unheard of. Unfortunately, this is the same governor who contested in 2021 and did not pay such an amount,”
“To crown it all, this outrageous fee also covers T-shirts, flyers, and branding of vehicles for political campaigns. One is expected to pay for all these. This has never happened in any political setting in this country. We are witnessing it for the first time. I don’t understand how the governor could involve himself in such undemocratic practices and actions,” he stated.
He accused the governor of attempting to intimidate and suppress opposition parties in the state.
Obianyo said the actions of the state government clearly show that the governor is jittery about the opposition’s momentum.
According to him, the governor’s action is completely undemocratic, and the ADC will not pay the imposed fee. Instead, the party is ready to seek justice through all available legal and constitutional means.
“We cannot accept that kind of thing. We shall use everything within our power to uphold decency, including going to court. It is not done anywhere. Unfortunately, they went ahead to claim they met with all political parties and that everyone accepted the decision. Where did they meet the parties? At least I am the party chairman of ADC, and nothing of that sort ever happened,”
“We are saying no to this tyrannical approach to governance. We are not paying. It’s not because ADC lacks the capacity to pay,it is simply undemocratic and unconstitutional. You cannot force the opposition to pay.
“This is a clear attempt to stifle the opposition just because he wants to win re-election”
“The opposition should be given the same opportunity that he enjoyed when he contested in 2021,” he added”
He also called on the Anambra State Advertising and Signage Agency (ANSA) to withdraw the proposal, labeling it as unacceptable.
According to him, no one reached out to him for any meeting where such a decision was allegedly discussed and agreed upon.
He further stated that, to the best of his knowledge, the entire Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) is unaware of any such meeting.
“The IPAC Chairman said he is not aware of any meeting and did not participate in any meeting where this issue was discussed or agreed upon,” Obianyo said.
