A Federal High Court in Lagos has scheduled March 24 to deliver judgment in a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by the All Progressives Congress against the Nigerian Communications Commission.The political party had sued the commission, demanding N25bn as damages, for allegedly banning its presidential campaign fund-raising platform.
Also listed as respondents, in the suit marked FHC/L/CS/16/15, are Etisalat, MTN Nigeria Limited, Globacom Limited, Airtel Nigeria Limited and Visafone Communications Limited.
APC had accused the NCC of instructing the 2nd to 6th respondents to discontinue an SMS platform it created for the purpose of getting donations from willing members of the public for its presidential campaign.
The party claimed to have initiated the participatory fund-raising platform as a way of getting members of the general public to contribute N100 to its presidential campaign fund each time they sent APC as an SMS to 35350.
But it claimed that NCC, by a letter dated January 19, 2015, instructed the other respondents to shut down the platform, warning them “to avoid running political advertisement/promotions that will portray them as being partisan.”
The commission had also threatened to sanction any of the telecommunications service providers which failed to comply with the order.
But APC considered the NCC’s instruction and the consequent shutting down of its fund-raising platform as both discriminatory and an infringement on its fundamental right protected by Section 39 of the Constitution and Articles 9 (1) (2) and 19 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap. A9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
It argued that the NCC did not give the same instruction to the other respondents when the Peoples Democratic Party set up the short codes designated : 6661, 662, 6663 and 6664, being managed by one Wagitel Communications Limited to raise funds for the campaign of President Goodluck Jonathan and his vice, Namadi Sambo, in 2010.
Justice Ibrahim Buba adjourned till March 24 to deliver judgment after listening to all the parties on Tuesday.
