2023: Controversy trails Peter Obi’s Diaspora funding

OBINNA EZUGWU

Amid legal fireworks, the portal for donations into the campaign fund of Mr. Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), is billed to open this week, as promised by Prof. Pat Utomi, a chieftain of the party and an ally of the former Anambra State governor.

A fortnight ago, it emerged that Nigerians in the Diaspora formed groups of committees to launch crowdfunding initiatives for Obi, with a target to raise $150 million from Obi’s supporters in the Diaspora and N100 billion from those in Nigeria.

On Monday, Julius Abure, Labour Party national chairman, inaugurated an 11-member committee to organise the party’s diaspora activities in a bid to ensure the inclusiveness of Nigerians in the diaspora in the presidential campaign of Obi. At the inauguration in Abuja, Abure said one of the committee’s terms of reference is to organise fundraising activities for the party.

“Their terms of reference, one, recommend to the national chairman the creation of diaspora chapters. Two, monitor the activities of diaspora chapters and report to the national chairman,” Abure said, adding that the functions include organising “fundraising activities and donations to the party after liaising with the party”, and facilitating “travel arrangements for party officials and to perform any other functions connected thereto.”

The inauguration of the diaspora committee which coincided with the foreign tour of Obi evidently rattled the opposition camp, with a support group for Bola Tinubu, All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Tinubu-Shettima Connect, demanding that Obi and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, be disqualified from the 2023 election, even as it set off legal arguments.

The group also threatened to commence legal action, intending to join Peter Obi, his running mate and INEC, to prevent Labour Party from participating in the 2023 presidential election for engaging in activities that, according to it, contravened the Electoral Act 2022.

In a statement signed by its convener, Adebanjo Moyosore, the group said it was not only illegal to raise campaign funds from abroad through unknown sources or unidentified groups but there is also dire consequences and implications for such act.

Moyosore argued that the inauguration of a diaspora committee by the leadership of Labour Party to gather campaign funds from Nigerians in diaspora for Obi’s presidential campaign was not only illegal but also criminal.

He said it was “matter of great public concern as the country has moved from its old practice with INEC trying to put perfection to the electoral process, unfortunately a few individuals who think they can get away with deliberate act to undermine the electoral law of the land, have already started making sinister moves even when the campaigns are yet to begin in earnest.

“Section 85 of the Electoral Act has clearly explained this. Also, Section 85 (a) (b) provides that any political party that:

“(a) holds or possesses any fund outside Nigeria in contravention of section 225 (3) (a) of the Constitution, commits an offence, and shall on conviction forfeit the funds or assets purchased with such funds to the Commission and in addition may be liable to a fine of at least N5,000,000; or

“(b) retains any fund or other asset remitted to it from outside Nigeria in contravention of section 225 (3) (a) of the Constitution commits an offence and shall on conviction forfeit the funds or assets to the Commission and in addition may be liable to a fine of at least N5,000,000.”

Also, citing a provision of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Adebanjo said the law forbids possession of funds by the candidate or political party from overseas.

He said: “Section 225 (2) (3) (4) (a) (b) & (5) of the Constitution provides that:

“225 (2) Every political party shall submit to the Independent National Electoral Commission a detailed annual statement and analysis of its sources of funds and other assets together with a similar statement of its expenditure in such form as the Commission may require.

“225(3) No political party shall –

“(a) hold or possess any funds or other assets outside Nigeria; or

“(b) be entitled to retain any funds or assets remitted or sent to it from outside Nigeria.

” 225(4) Any funds or other assets remitted or sent to a political party from outside Nigeria shall be paid over or transferred to the Commission within twenty-one days of its receipt with such information as the Commission may require.”

He noted that the development was worrisome, especially at a time like this when the country’s anti-graft agencies were battling with money laundering from criminal syndicates and traffickers.

“We therefore call on INEC to act and save our democracy from the hands of some desperate Nigerians,” he added.

Another group, The Progressive Clan, in a statement, kicked against the decision to raise funds from Nigerians in the diaspora, while asking INEC to intervene in the matter.

“To be clear, these acts are an affront to the sacred provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Electoral Act,” the group said.

“They are unlawful and the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) must arrest illegalities immediately to assure Nigerians that the 2023 elections would not be influenced from outside in any form.”

In the same vein, the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Abubakar Malami said the government will apply the law to deal with any infractions to the electoral process, while the chairperson of the Diaspora Commission, Mrs. Abike Dabiri Erewa, cautioned parties to obey the rule of engagement and warned Nigerians abroad not to be used to undermine their country

The decision of Obi’s supporters to crowdfund his campaign has continued to generate controversy, particularly on the legality of the initiative, ahead of its take off this week.

Utomi, a professor of political economy had while speaking on Channels last weekend, argued that there was nothing wrong with Nigerians in the diaspora donating funds to political campaigns in Nigeria, adding that he was a beneficiary of such when he contested to be president.

“When the time is right, the diaspora will give money. They have always given money to campaigns. I ran for president before and got support from the diaspora in 2006 and 2007 and then when I ran in 2011,” he said.

“When the time is right, we are going to solicit from Nigerians across the board. We are setting up portals where people can give money.

“These portals are not up yet. They would be up next week or so and eventually, we are going to be able to access resources from the diaspora for sure.

”But right now, we are on a sensitization tour about what makes democracy work. Right now, Nigeria’s democracy is not working because of the transaction cost involved and the trade-off that has to be made,” Utomi said.

Position of the Law

As pointed out by the Atiku-Shettima Connect, Section 225 (3)(a) of the 1999 constitution prohibits political parties from having assets or funds in foreign countries, a position re-echoed by Section 85 of the Electoral Act 2022.

Section 85 states: “Any political party that – (a) holds or possesses any fund outside Nigeria in contravention of section 225 (3) (a) of the Constitution, commits an offence and shall on conviction forfeit the funds or assets purchased with such funds to the Commission and in addition may be liable to a fine of at least 5,000,000; or (b) retains any fund or other asset remitted to it from outside Nigeria in contravention of section 225 (3) (a) of the Constitution commits an offence and shall on conviction forfeit the funds or assets to the Commission and in addition may be liable to a fine of at least N5,000,000.”

Lawyers Speak

As provided in both the 1999 constitution and the Electoral Act 2022, political parties are clearly prohibited from receiving donations from outside the country, but the law doesn’t prohibit candidates from getting funds from foreign donors, and many lawyers have thus argued that Obi is not breaking any law by soliciting for funds from Nigerians in the Diaspora.

“A distinction has to be drawn between Peter Obi and the Labour Party,” said Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, former director, legal services at INEC. “The constitution specifically forbids political parties from receiving funding from abroad, and that’s in line with international best practices… But curiously, it doesn’t forbid a candidate or an aspirant from bringing or receiving money from abroad.”

Similarly, Festus Ogun, a human rights lawyer and principal of Festus Ogun Legal, argued in a statement that donations by Nigerians in the Diaspora for Obi do not violate any law in Nigeria.

“To be clear, donations made by concerned citizens and support groups (either in Nigeria or in the diaspora) to Peter Obi and his Campaign Team are not in violation of any living law in Nigeria,” he said.

“Those who hold otherwise rely largely on Section 225(3)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered) and Section 85 of the Electoral Act, 2022. With greatest respect, these provisions of law are generally inapplicable to this instant case, and those who rely on them to demand from INEC the disqualification of Mr. Peter Obi, which is itself laughable, are either mischievous or misconceived.

“Section 225(3)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as altered) provides that: ‘No political party shall hold or possess any funds or other assets outside Nigeria; or b. be entitled to retain any funds or assets remitted or sent to it from outside Nigeria’.”

“A careful consideration of the sections of law reproduced above shows that the 1999 Constitution simply prohibits a POLITICAL PARTY from holding or possessing any funds or other assets outside Nigeria and from retaining any funds or assets remitted or sent to it from outside Nigeria. The Electoral Act, by virtue of Section 85, only complements the constitutional provision by prescribing punishment for its breach.” Ogun further explained.

Ogun added, “Having cleared that, it is safe to say that donations made to Mr. Peter Obi or his Campaign Organization in furtherance of his Presidential Campaign cannot be said to be made to a Political Party as envisaged under 225(3)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution. Neither Mr. Peter Obi nor his campaign Organisation is a ‘political party’ and must not be mistaken or confused for Labour Party, a duly registered political party under the law. It would have been a different ball game entirely if the donations were made to Labour Party as a political party.

“Donations made to political candidates or their campaign teams are not caught under 225(3)(a)(b) of the 1999 Constitution and Section 85 of the Electoral Act and are therefore not illegal and unconstitutional.”

In his own intervention, another human rights lawyer, Abdul Mahmud, president of Public Interest Lawyers League (PILL), noted that, “Political parties cannot by any stretch of interpretation mean candidates. Section 229 tells us what a political party is: “any association whose activities include canvassing for votes in support of a candidate for election.”

“The Supreme Court in Eze v PDP & Ors (2018) defined a candidate as aspirant in a primary/candidate in an election.”

Similarly, speaking in an Arise Television interview aired on Monday, Paul Ananaba, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said a political candidate “is not barred from raising funds from the diaspora”.

According to him, “If Obi is raising funds from the diaspora as an individual that is correct, but as a political party it is entirely wrong. The law does not define a political party to include the candidate and neither does the definition of the candidate include the political party.

“The Electoral Act limits the amount a presidential candidate can spend on an election campaign to N5 billion.”

Not a dime yet – Obi

Amid the controversy, Obi, last week denied receiving funding from Nigerians in the Diaspora.
Speaking during a meeting with Nigerians in London on Tuesday, Obi said the allegations were based on mere speculation.

“Nobody has given me anything,” he said. “That is speculation. What I need is not what they would give me. But what they would give Nigeria, because we need them to turn around Nigeria.

“This is the energy, the capacity that we need to turn around Nigeria. Every country that was turned around, was done by the diaspora. Even in the Bible, Joseph who left later came back to feed his people.”