LG Poll: We’ll review our decision on nomination form fee, if… — OGSIEC

Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) has promised to review its position on the payment of a non-refundable fee deposit of N200, 000 and N100, 000 for chairmanship and councillorship candidates respectively, in the forthcoming local council polls.

Commission’s Chairman, Mr. Babatunde Osibodu, said if the Commission is furnished with the alleged judgment issued several years ago, barring it from asking for a non-refundable fee, it will not hesitate to comply.

“Some political parties are making reference to a court judgment barring OGSIEC from asking for the payment of a non-refundable deposit. I learnt the judgment was delivered some 15 years ago. As we speak, nobody has produced the judgment, we are guided by law and we promise to comply, if the judgment is provided.

“People are making reference to Oyo State, I have also been in contact with the state, it is not enough to refer to the Oyo incidence as reasons why OGSIEC should not ask for nomination fee because the judgment was exclusive to Oyo State and cannot be introduced for enforcement in Ogun.

Osibodu maintained that by asking for a non-refundable deposit, OGSIEC is operating within the ambit of the law, as it is empowered by the law to do so.

“OGSIEC is simply following the law; Section 14 of the Ogun State Electoral Law, 2007, which stipulates clearly the payment of a nomination fee and we are a law-abiding organisation. The law does not stipulate an amount, it gives OGSIEC the prerogative of how much to charge. We have considered all the circumstances and determined that in this upcoming election, candidate for chairmanship is N200, 000 and for councilors, it is N100, 000.

“Women are not expected to pay a dime. We are a gender-sensitive commission and we want to encourage the female gender to be part of the process. Where you exclude women, the society at large is the loser for it. We have received complaints as regards the fee.

Some political parties have contacted us regarding the fee, and our response was simple: they should provide the judgment and we process to make adjustment,” he said.

The OGSIEC boss urged the public, as well as political parties to inform the commission, if they know anyone seeking to be elected, who is not eligible and has a short fall of the needed requirements.