An aggrieved aspirant for the House of Representatives, Fagge Federal Constituency, Kano, Osita Nwankwo, has demanded for the refund of his 500,000 naira nomination fee paid to the Labour Party to contest the primaries.
According to him, the request for refund followed the refusal of the Labour Party to offer him the ticket to represent Fagge Constituency, Kano at the National Assembly, due to his failure to pay the 5 million naira, requested by the party’s leadership.
Six months after making the request for the refund from the party leadership with no response, Nwankwo said he had to use the media to seek for the refund of his money despite offering the ticket to another aspirant on payment of the said amount.
“I paid the said amount to the Labour Party’s Account, number: 1021575052, with UBA and 20634382, with same UBA on July 6, 2022, representing N400, 000 for nomination fee paid directly to the party’s account and N100, 000 as waiver, since I was not a member of the party before the nomination. I paid N100, 000 into the legal adviser’s account, with same UBA, bringing the total sum to N500, 000, with documentary evidence of payment.”
According to him, he was requested to pay what he can afford for the ticket, adding that he voluntarily paid the sum of N500,000, which the party rejected, insisting for the payment of N3 million for the ticket and N5 million for waiver.
Similarly, the aggrieved aspirant confirmed that the state chapter of the party had since refunded the N90, 000 he earlier paid, as expression of interest fee, pointing out that what is now pending is the refusal of LP leadership to refund his N500, 000,to reflect the party’s transparency and sincerity.
“I am therefore seeking the urgent refund of my N500, 000, to demonstrate the party’s transparency, accountability and sincerity in the management of its affairs,” he said.
Numerous efforts to contact the Kano Labour Party Chairman, Mohammed Raji, for his reaction failed as he neither responded to our reporter’s calls nor the WhatsApp messages forwarded to him as at the time of filing this report.
