August 30, (THEWILL) – The Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) has rescheduled the forthcoming local government elections in the state in order to beat the Supreme Court’s October deadline.
The chairmanship and councillorship polls are now to be held on October 26, instead of November 30 earlier announced.
The Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Sani Malumfashi, announced the new date while addressing newsmen in Kano on Friday.
“In recognition and conformity with the recent Supreme Court decision, the mutual agreement between States and the Federal Government upon the expiration of October deadline, the Commission is justifiably impelled to reschedule the already scheduled Local Government Election to 26th October, 2024, as against 30th November, 2024,” Malumfashi said.
Recall that the commission had fixed N10 million as nomination fee for the chairmanship position and N5 million for the councillorship slot ahead of the polls.
The announcement of the charges had, however, sent tongues wagging in the state, particularly in the opposition circles, with many aspirants describing the fees as “prohibitive”.
Reacting, Prof. Malumfashi dismissed the complaints, vowing that there was no going back on the fees.
He explained that the commission fixed the fees having assessed the inflationary situation which is characterised by high prices of goods and services in the country.
He said if some sister states in the North were allowed to fix their nomination forms fees for local government elections in that range, he saw no reason why his commission should not fix such amounts.
Abdullahi Yusuf is a seasoned journalist, communicator and was previously the Deputy Editor-In-Chief and Zonal Manager, News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, Jos, where he retired on December 15, 2021
