Court Orders NCC, Telcos to Pay APC N500m for Closing Fundraising Platform

Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday declared that the directive by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) which suspended the presidential campaign fundraising platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as illegal, null and void.

The judge also awarded N500 million damages against the defendants jointly and severally.

In a judgment on a fundamental human rights enforcement suit filed by APC, Justice Ibrahim Buba, held that the NCC acted beyond its powers in suspending the fund-raising platform of the APC, which was meant to generate funds to prosecute the presidential bid of the party.

“The directive by the NCC to the telecoms firms is hereby struck out having been made without power and in contravention of the fundamental rights of the applicant (APC),” Justice Buba ruled.
The NCC had ordered the major telecoms firms in the country to stop running the text message Code platform 35350 created for fund-raising for of the APC’s presidential campaign.

The telecoms firm are Etisalat, MTN, Glo, Airtel and Visafone.
NCC, via the said directive, had warned the telecoms firms against running political promotions that will portray them as being partisan.

Justice Buba condemned the said NCC’s directive
In the originating motion, the party had urged the court to award N25 billion damages against the defendants for violating fundamental rights of its members.
The party said it created a ‘premium text message code 35350’through which willing donors could contribute to its presidential campaign fund.

Within hours of its creation, APC said it was GETTING about five messages of N100 every minute. A total of 5,400 messages were received, it said.

However, NCC in a January 19 letter, directed all telecoms service providers “to avoid running political advertisements that will portray them as being partisan.”

NCC said it would not “hesitate to sanction any service provider that will flout this directive.” As a result, the mobile companies suspended the platform.

However, APC said political parties have been using several media platforms to advertise, with none accused of being partisan.
Besides, the applicant said NCC approved the short codes 6661, 662, 6663 and 6664 for the Goodluck-Sambo Presidential Campaign fund raising in 2010.

APC said since its platform was unjustly suspended, its members, supporters, sympathisers and others who wish to donate towards its presidential campaign have been “incapacitated.”

Besides, the party said the code suspension has inhibited its financial capacity to effectively prosecute its presidential campaign.

APC said NCC’s directive contravenes it’s right to freedom of expression guaranteed under Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution.
Besides, the party said the commissions action is discriminatory.

“The purported directive of the first respondent (NCC) discriminated against the applicant’s (APC’s) members since the first respondent granted the approval for the use of short codes to raise funds for Goodluck-Sambo presidential campaign...,” APC said. (Thisday)