A civil society group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, has sued the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party over the political parties’ refusal to disclose their sources of funds for their electoral campaigns and other financial operations linked to the 2015 general elections. The suits, filed last week at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, followed the Freedom of Information requests to the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, and the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, dated November 18, 2014. SERAP had expressed concern over the risks of corruption during electoral campaigns for the 2015 general elections, especially the role of money in politics and the persistent failure to comply with national and international law on political party finance. The originating summons against the PDP with suit number FHC/CS/1969/2014 and against the APC with suit number FHC/CS/1968/2014 were brought pursuant to section 4(a) of the Freedom of Information Act, and signed by SERAP Senior Staff Attorney, Olukayode Majekodunmi. The plaintiff argued that under the FoI Act, Nigerians have the right to know about spending by their political parties, adding that citizens should be able to examine their financial transactions and be certain that politicians are working in the interest of the masses. It argues that both the APC and the PDP “cannot take the position that the FoI Act does not apply to them because to do so will seriously undermine citizens’ trust in their political parties and lack of trust will inevitably destroy confidence in the system and decrease citizens’ interest and participation in the democratic processes.” It also wants the court to determine “whether by virtue of the provision of section 4(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, the defendants are under any obligation to provide the plaintiff with the information requested.” The civil society group is also seeking a declaration that by virtue of the provisions of Section 4 (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, the defendants (the PDP and the APC) are under a binding legal obligation to provide it with up-to-date information relating to the spending and sources of income derived from federal, state and other institutions, agencies or persons for the campaigns and other operations of the defendants related to the February 2015 elections. According to SERAP, the lack of transparency and accountability in political finance is seriously undermining the legitimacy and credibility of the democratic and electoral processes, and invariably contributing to denying the citizens the right to effective participation in their own government.” It said, “Transparency, accountability, integrity and independence of political parties is also important to achieve greater transparency in public life, to curb the influence of money in politics, to promote a level playing field, and to remove the risks to the independence of political actors and would-be public office holders and the risks of conflicts of interest, including undue influence and corruption in the funding of political parties. “By virtue of Section 1 (1) of the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act 2011, SERAP is entitled as of right to request for or gain access to information being requested. Under the FoI Act, your party is under a binding legal obligation to provide the applicant with the information requested for, except as otherwise provided by the Act, within seven days after the application is received. “By sections 2(3)(d)(V) & (4) of the FoI Act, there is a binding legal duty to ensure that documents containing the necessary information are widely disseminated and made readily available to members of the public through various means. The information being requested does not come within the purview of the types of information exempted from disclosure by the provisions of the FoI Act. Copyright PUNCH. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH. Contact: editor@punchng posted on December 22, 2014 at 12:44AM jtnng.blogspot/
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 00:02:42 +0000
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