Kenneth Ikonne
I hear that the Attorney General of the Federation, Malami, SAN, has warned that potential “foreign” donors to the presidential aspiration of Mr. Peter Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, risk jail time, even if they are Nigerians. With the greatest respect to the learned Attorney General, IF INDEED HE SAID SO, that’s a rather agricultural interpretation of the Electoral Act!
Section 85 of the Electoral Act is concerned with the holding of, or possession of funds abroad, by A POLITICAL PARTY, or the retention of such funds by a POLITICAL PARTY when remitted to THE POLITICAL PARTY from outside Nigeria. The punishments for infraction, statutorily provided in section 85(a) & (b) of the Electoral Act, 2022 are:
(a) forfeiture of the funds by the political party, and a fine of N5 million by the political party!
(b)payment of a fine of N1 million by “any OFFICIAL of the political party” who aids the political party to either hold funds outside Nigeria, or retain such funds belonging to the political party remitted to Nigeria, or imprisonment for a term of six months or both.
As a matter of fact, no offence is committed by a political party to which such “foreign funds” are remitted, unless that political party retains such funds, without transferring same to INEC, beyond 21 days from the date of receipt of the funds or asset. See s. 225(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The Electoral Act has prescribed no sanctions whatsoever for the foreign contributors of such funds, or the person effectuating the remittance to the political party.
Now, Candidate Peter Obi is not an OFFICIAL of the Labour Party. The officials of a political party are those holding executive positions in the party, ie, members of its National, State, Local Government Executive committees, as well as members of the National, State and Local Govt Working committees. A candidate doesnt belong to any of these.
Nowhere in the Electoral Act is donation, or remittance, of funds from outside Nigeria to a CANDIDATE, or an individual, outlawed. And what an individual does with his own money is not Malami’s business, provided that the individual, if he is a candidate for election, does not exceed the prescribed statutory limit on campaign spending.
Malami cannot read into the Electoral Act what is not there.
