Stakeholders in the electoral process on Thursday appealed to the Taraba State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) not to charge nomination fees for the May 16, 2020, Local Council polls in the state so as to encourage massive participation by political parties.
They made the appeal at a meeting with the Executive Chairman of the commission, Dr Philip Duwe and other commissioners in Jalingo.
Mr Peter Achagwa, the Taraba Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) noted at the event that charging high nomination fees for chairmanship and Councillorship positions would shut out smaller political parties from the process.
According to him, if the commission charges moderate fees it would enable all willing political parties to field candidates in all the positions.
Achagwa explained it would be better to have more people participate in the process than to charge high fees that many people could not afford.
Alhaji Saadu Musa, the Taraba Chairman, Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC), who said the body would want massive participation in the electoral process also appealed to the commission charge moderate fees to enable every willing member’s contest.
Musa also called calm among members of IPAC in the state over the de-registration of some political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He urges them to close ranks and work together for the success of the elections pending the determination of the court cases over the de-registration by INEC.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Executive Chairman of SIEC, Dr Duwe had told the stakeholders that the commission expected them to be united and work together for the success of the election at the local councils.
Duwe noted that the commission was almost at a cross over the de-registration of some parties by INEC but it would apply wisdom by putting all the party logos on the ballot if the court were not over before the time of printing.
The chairman, who said the timetable had already been released to the political parties, assured the stakeholders that the commission would continue to carry them along till the end of the excise.
“You will recall that this is our third meeting in series of attempts to get the process right and we will not relent until we succeed,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that Duwe had on February 10, 2020, announced the commencement of the processes leading to the conduct of LG polls by May 16.
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