Ebonyi APGA Threatens to Boycott LG Elections over Fees

Benjamin Nworie in Abakaliki

Ebonyi State chapter of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has threatened to boycott the forthcoming local government election in the state over alleged exorbitant fees placed on the nomination forms by the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC).

The state Chairman of the party, Mr. El-Stevenson Okorouka, stated this while addressing the State Working Committee (SWC) of the party in Abakaliki, the state capital.

He stressed that APGA would not participate in the elections if the amounts are not reduced.

The SIEC had earlier informed political parties that nomination form for chairmanship would cost candidates N1 million each while councillorship forms would cost N200, 000 each.

The APGA chairman described it as an attempt to abort democracy, uproot fair play and discard level playing ground in the process. He, therefore, asked EBSIEC to remove the exorbitant fees immediately so that all parties can participate in the process, declaring that APGA would take EBSIEC to court if it fails to do so.

 “We’ll take EBSIEC to court if they fail to allow other parties participate in the upcoming local government chairmanship and councillorship election by refusing to remove and/or slash the exorbitant fees,” Okorouka said.