Lawan Badamasi is the Commissioner in charge of Media and Legislative Matters, Kano State Independent Electoral Commission. In this interview, he explains the reasons that informed their decision to fix their nomination fees at N10m, N5m respectively for chairmen and councillorship candidates. He also speaks on the various arrangements being explored by the Commission to conduct a free and fair local government election in the state.
Kano State Independent Electoral Commission has just rescheduled to October 26th, 2024 for the conduct of the Local Government Elections in the state. How prepared are we for this important democratic exercise at the third tier of government?
As you already know, the election was initially billed for November 30, 2024, but it was later rescheduled for October 26th in line with the judgement of the Supreme Court. I can tell you with all certainty that all arrangements are in top gear for a very successful exercise. There are various dates and timelines for significant occasions ahead of the elections in the state. We have so far held a number of stakeholders meetings, which offered us a unique opportunity to explain in details our programmes and our arrangements to stakeholders and by extension the people of Kano State. All these activities will continue up to the October 26th for the election proper and finally the run- up elections, if any, would come up two weeks after.
Looking at the programmes, how do you intend to carry these stakeholders along in the course of the journey?
It has been great so far! Even before the 15th of August, when we met formally, I can tell you that we had been carrying them along. We are working with them and we have been receiving inputs and suggestions from them, especially the political parties. And based on their valued advice and suggestions, we have made some amendments and adjustments here and there in the course of the journey. In fact, the final thing here is that the relationship between us, the stakeholders and the people of Kano State has been very, very cordial and mutually reinforcing. We are also working with the media too. That way, the people, who are the ultimate stakeholders, are being educated and sensitized on each and every single step or arrangement that we are making towards a successful election.
One of the key issues that have dominated talks and debates ahead of this election is your nomination fees, which have not gone down well with some stakeholders especially the opposition parties. What exactly is the correct narrative?
Our nomination fee is N10m for candidates contesting for the position of the Chairman and N5m for those in the category of the Councilor. The figures or nomination fees were arrived at after calculating and accommodating a number of variables. To the best of our understanding and the understanding of our stakeholders, you will agree with me that the costs of things in the country today are very high. For instance, the cost papers and other stationeries; payment of ad-hoc workers for the elections is much expensive than it used to be and the coverage area for this election is much wider than what we have in many other states- which has implication for transportation costs for man and materials during the elections. Kano State, unlike other states has a total of 44 local government areas and each local government area has a number of wards. This is an enormous size. So what we are likely to expend to conduct the election is really, really high. These are some of the reasons behind our fees. Everything is very high or going up. You must take note of the fact that it is not the only here in Kano State or only KANSIEC that has fixed its nomination fees for 10m and N5m. There are five or six states that have similar rates. There is even a state – I cannot remember the exact state at the moment- which pegged its fees at N15 million. Everything has gone up.
But there are also states which pegged their nomination fees far less than what we have in the state. Many of the states that I read of their nomination fees are charging less than what Kano State Independent Electoral Commission is asking the candidates to cough out.
Every state has its own nature and peculiarities so it is not right to measure one state against another. Kano is a commercial city, a commercial center, a state that is densely populated with politicians and so many commercial activities. We are considering that too. But at the same time, not just the commercial activities, we are also considering the nature of the cost of things. There is so much inflation and nothing is easy these days.
But don’t you think that the nomination fees may discourage some aspirants who cannot afford the fees and therefore constitutes an obstacle to credible candidates?
It will never discourage anyone. I say this because there are some of these aspirants that will spend more than N10 million to buy sugar, indomie and food items during their campaigns. They will give out much more to get votes. So, even if you fail to charge this fee, they would spend it on the road; give it out to those who are not even willing or going to vote for them. That is why we are embarking on a programme of voter- education exercise by next week. The aim is to educate the people and the politicians on why we pegged the nomination fees at N10m and N5m. It will also enable us to sensitize the people on why they should not accept these gifts from these politicians. We want the people to know their rights, to know who they are, to know what they should do and what they should not do during the electioneering process. We will encourage them to choose credible candidates that would work for them. That is why part of our regulations is that anybody who is a drug addict or found to be one would not be allowed to contest the elections. The NDLEA will be invited to screen all the candidates for the elections. And anyone who is screened out will be dropped. We will advise his political party to excuse such a candidate because he is a drug addict.
I recognize that the costs of things are five times higher in Nigeria today. However, these concerns ought to have been addressed by the allocation from the state government.
It is true that there are some of the costs that are the responsibility of the state government but there are some of these costs which we are supposed to improvise for and address at our own level.
Are you worried that some of the political parties, especially the APC and the PRP have threatened to go to court to contest the costs of the nomination fees?
It is their constitutional right to go to court. They can go to court. Whoever wants to go to court to challenge us and our decisions is free. It is a matter of fair hearing. When they take us to court, we are going to defend ourselves. If a political party decides to quit the process because he is not satisfied, it is also their own right of choice. If they decided to take us to court, we have the right and will be given the space to provide an explanation about what we are doing. It is nothing to worry about. We have our lawyers to defend us.
It is their right to go to court, but wouldn’t their litigations obstruct the time lines set for the exercise?
They will not be able to stop our programmes and time lines mainly because we are a constitutionally created body. Besides, we are backed by the state election law, which regulates our activities. We have the state Local Government Enabling law, also. All of these laws reaffirm our power to come up with the regulations for the conduct of the Local Government elections in the state.
In Nigeria, State Electoral Commissions are accused of working in favour of the ruling party in the state. This is one of the reasons some are calling for their abolition. What assurances are you giving to the people of Kano that you will be different?
We, in KANSIEC, know what we promised the people of Kano State and we know how we are going to defend this promise. We promised them that whatever is your background and from wherever you are coming from, from whatever political party you come from, and whoever wins, we will definitely announce his name as the winner of the elections in his wards and at the local government areas. We have said this over the air several times and our Chairman has been repeating it that we will never be corrupt or be found to be corrupt. We stand by this promise. We can never be compromised by any individual candidate or any political party and whoever tries to compromise us with money or anything else, be assured that we will expose such a person to the public. Therefore, a credible election will be conducted in Kano in line with our promise to the people of our state come November 30. There will be no interference. And I want to call on all the political parties in the state to be assured that justice will be done during this council election.
One last issue is security during the election amid the deep rivalry between the two leading political parties. How do you intend to manage this?
If you compare Kano with many states, Kano is more peaceful than many states in Nigeria…….
I am actually talking about inter- political clashes that exist between the leading NNPP and the opposition APC in the state. How do you hope to manage this tension as you go through the elections?
That one, one cannot run away from political differences and tension. But that does not mean that political clashes must take place during the elections. However, we are making all the necessary security arrangements towards successful elections, which include ensuring the safety of all during the exercise. We have met with security apparatus like the police, Civil Defence and others. We are going to continue to meet with them and we are very confident that they are capable of managing the security of the state during the elections.
The post Kano LG polls: Why we fixed 10m, N5m as nomination fees –Badamasi, KANSIEC Commissioner, Media and Legislative Matters appeared first on The Sun Nigeria.