A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Tuesday awarded the sum of N500 million as damages to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Nigeria’s main opposition party.
The damages was awarded against the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and five others for unlawfully shutting down the party’s presidential campaign fund raising platform.
The five others include Etisalat, MTN Nigeria Limited, Globacom Limited, Airtel Nigeria Limited and Visafone Communications Limited.
The party had taken the defendants to court after NCC shut down the platform, saying it was against its laws. The APC however accused the NCC of playing politics with the shutdown of the platform.
Ruling on the case, Justice Ibrahim said the strategy of the APC in seeking to raise funds through the platform was protected by the constitution.
The court decided that the fundamental rights of the party had been violated.
A counter affidavit by the NCC was thrown out by the court.
