An Accra High court has given the Electoral Commission (EC) clearance to receive filing fee from presidential and parliamentary nominees.

The Progressive People's Party (PPP) filed an application for injunction praying that the court restrains the EC from receiving the said amount being charged.

The party said the charge of GH¢50,000 fee for presidential nominees and GH¢10,000 for parliamentary nominees was a capricious and arbitrary use of power by the electoral body.

Lawyer for the PPP, Dennis Ofosu Appiah, argued in court on Friday that the said amount being charged by the EC was not stated in the law.

He stated that PNDC law 284 requires the Commission to state that said amount to be charged in the regulations for the elections. He pointed out that regulations 8 and 45 of the CI 94 failed to state the specific amount to be charged.

He further argued that the PPP may not be able to contest the polls if their injunction is not granted, because they will be required to provide the said amount.

Lawyer for the Commission EC, Thaddeus Sori who opposed the motion stated that the law allows the EC to determine the fee, which the EC has done. 

He said if the PPP cannot pay the said amount, they should have applied for an injunction preventing EC from taking money from PPP and not all parties as they were doing since they cannot assume all other parties cannot pay.

He further pointed out that the PPP had paid the amount 

PPP lawyer Dennis Ofosu Appiah disagreed he said they were in court because they are supposed to pay GH¢2.8 million which they have not paid.

Secondly, they presented GH¢50,000 to the Commission when filing their forms with the EC because they were required to do so.

They added, the EC per the injunction application was not supposed to accept the fee, so the EC shouldn't have accepted, the injunction he added was not directed at preventing parties from presenting the fee.

Justice Mensah ruled that the application had failed to defer his reasons to a latter date.