Jonathan’s N21.27bn campaign fund: Donors and PDP may face prosecution

 

According to some top lawyers, the donors of the N21.27 billion for President Jonathan’s re-election campaign, should be prosecuted alongside the Peoples Democratic Party.

Some of the lawyers, which include Senior Advocates of Nigeria, stated that the donors breached the Electoral Act by exceeding the limit stipulated by the Act.

The lawyers, Prof. Itse Sagay, Femi Falana, Emeka Ngige, Mr. Jiti Ogunye and Monday Ubani, are of the opinion that the Peoples Democratic Party dinner/fund-raiser on Saturday, December 20, was the height of impunity by the ruling party.


Sagay opined that the exercise was suspicious, while Falana and Ogunye argued that the PDP and the donors need to be punished to prevent a re-occurence in the future.

According to Falana, the President and the PDP also violated the section of the Act which pegs expenses for presidential campaign at N1bn.

He stated that the President may be spared from prosecution because of the immunity he currently enjoys, but insisted that the PDP should be tried and the money in excess of N1bn should be forfeited to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

He said: “It is the height of impunity by the ruling party. The maximum election expenses cannot exceed N1bn by virtue of section 90 of the Electoral Act.”

“The PDP and President Jonathan have violated the law. The President enjoys immunity but the PDP is liable to prosecution and if convicted the fine is N1m while any amount which exceeds the prescribed limit shall be forfeited to INEC,” Falana added.

Gowing by what is stipulated by the constitution, the lawyers’ agitation may be legitimate, as Section 91(9) of the Act reads: “An individual or other entity shall not donate more than N1,000,000 to any candidate.”

In a similar vein, Sub-section 10 of the same section adds that a presidential candidate “who knowingly acts in contravention of this section commits an offence and on conviction is liable to a maximum fine of N1m or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both.”

Meanwhile, Section 91(2) of the same Act states that: “The maximum election expenses to be incurred by a candidate at a presidential election shall be N1bn.”