CITIZENS COMPASS— The Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance (CACOBAG) on Monday, called on Nigerians to join the fight against nomination fees by political parties ahead of the 2027 general elections in the country.
Against this backdrop, the human rights body implored well meaning Nigerians to join the match to the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, March 25, 2026 in solidarity.
CACOBAG disclosed this in a statement jointly signed by its Chairman, Toyin Raheem and Secretary, Idowu Taiwo.
It reads: Coalition Against Corruption and Bad Governance (CACOBAG) calls on all good citizens to support the ongoing litigation challenging the imposition of exorbitant nomination fees by political parties.
The Supreme Court has banned INEC from charging nomination fees, and we believe no party should charge fees for nomination. Instead, parties should only collect membership dues from their members according to their capacities.
This case, led by Ejime Okolie, seeks to ensure that all Nigerians, regardless of financial capacity, have an equal opportunity to contest for public office.
On March 25, we invite all Nigerians to join us in solidarity with Okolie at the Federal High Court in Abuja as we push for a judgment in favor of the people.
Furthermore, we call on all State Electoral Commissions (SECs) that have collected money from contestants for local government elections to refund every kobo collected, as this is a contempt of court judgment. Any SEC that fails to comply will face legal action ,protests and picketing from CACOBAG and other pro-democracy groups.
It is worrisome that LASIEC, which once had a retired judge as chairman, was part of the brazen disobedience to the court order. More worrisome is the fact that LASIEC had at one time complied with the court order and charged no nomination fees.
We urge all Nigerians to join us in this fight against the deliberate disenfranchisement of citizens and the strangulation of democracy. It’s your right as a citizen to vote and be voted for without any strings attached to your nomination. Together, we can break the yoke and create a more inclusive and equitable political process.
It itemised its demand as follow:
– No nomination fees should be charged by political parties
– Parties should only collect membership dues from members according to their capacities
– SECs must refund all nomination fees collected for local government elections
– INEC and SECs must comply with the Supreme Court judgment
Join us on March 25 at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
#NoNominationFeesByPoliticalParties
CACOBAG calls on:
– United Action for Democracy (UAD)
– Centre for Democracy and Justice (CDJ)
– Campaign for Democracy (CD)
– Ambassadors for Democracy and Justice (ADJ)
– Public Interest Coalition (PIC)
– Gani Fawehinmi Movement for a New Nigeria (GFMNN)
– Take It Back Movement (TIB)
and other pro-people organisations to get involved in this struggle to put an end to the strangulation of Democracy through unlawful nomination fees.
We trust the judgment on March 25, 2026, will be in favor of the masses. Nigerians must rise and say NO to nomination fees.
