The All Progressives Congress (APC) has threatened legal action against the Taraba State Independent Electoral Commission (TSIEC) over what it described as unconstitutional and prohibitive fees for candidates in the forthcoming local government elections.

Speaking at a press briefing in Jalingo, the state party chairman, Ibrahim Tukur El-Sudi, said the charges imposed by TSIEC were designed to stifle opposition parties.

According to the guidelines, chairmanship aspirants are required to pay a non-refundable fee of N1 million, their vice-chairmanship counterparts N500,000, while female aspirants are charged N250,000. For councillorship seats, male aspirants must pay N150,000, while female candidates are to pay N75,000.

El-Sudi rejected the charges, describing them as unconstitutional.

“The constitution has not imposed any fees to be paid to INEC, and by extension, state electoral bodies cannot do so either.

“This is a ploy to frustrate parties, especially now that resources are scarce” he said.

He further urged TSIEC to scrap the fees from its guidelines, stressing that political parties should be free to nominate candidates without financial barriers.

The APC chairman also knocked the Taraba State Board of Internal Revenue for demanding what he termed “exorbitant” tax clearance fees—N1 million for chairmanship aspirants and N500,000 for councillorship candidates.

He called for an urgent downward review.

Meanwhile, El-Sudi disclosed that APC had successfully concluded its primaries across the 16 local government areas and is fully prepared for the November elections.