Premiumtimes: Court orders NCC to pay N500m damages to APC

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday ordered the
Nigerian Communications Commission to pay the All
Progressives Congress N500 million as damages for
unlawfully banning the party’s presidential campaign fund-
raising platform.
Justice Ibrahim Buba gave the order in his judgment
following a suit filed by the APC against the NCC and Etisalat,
MTN Nigeria, Globacom, Airtel Nigeria and Visafone
Communications.
The judge, in his judgment, held that the APC was protected
by the constitution to pursue the enforcement of its
fundamental rights once they were violated.
Mr. Buba, thereafter, dismissed NCC’s counter affidavit and
ruled that the actions of the respondents were illegal and
unconstitutional.
The judge held that the damages were to be paid jointly and
severally by all the respondents.
The political party had sued the commission, demanding
N25bn as damages, for allegedly banning its presidential
campaign fund-raising platform.
The 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 every member of the
general public to contribute N100 to its presidential
campaign fund each time they sent APC as an SMS to 35350.
The APC had deposed to an affidavit stating that within few
hours of launching the strategy, the party was getting about
four to five text messages in a minute and had received a
total of 5,400 SMS before the NCC directed the
telecommunications service providers to discontinue the
scheme.
The party, however, claimed that NCC, in a letter dated
January 19, 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 APC said the commission also threatened to sanction
any of the telecommunication service providers which failed
to comply with its order.
The party, however, considered the NCC’s instruction and
the consequent shutting down of its fund-raising platform as
both discriminatory and an infringement on its fundamental
rights as 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 NCC did not give the same instruction to the
other respondents when the Peoples Democratic Party set
up such short code which was managed by one Wagitel
Communications Ltd., to raise funds for the campaign of the
party in 2010.
(NAN)