The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been advised not to go ahead with the supplementary Kogi state governorship election scheduled for Saturday, December 5 in 91 polling units.
This advice came from a group of lawyers who are of the opinion that the All Progressives Congress (APC) could not present a candidate to replace its deceased governorship candidate, Prince Abubakar Audu, The Nation reports.
The lawyers, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), A. B. Mahmoud (SAN), Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), Hassan M. Liman(SAN) and Ahmed Raji (SAN), said their legal opinion followed a meeting they had with the chairman of the INEC, Prof. Mahmud Yakubu, and his national commissioners on November 23.
The lawyers, who serve as legal advisers to the INEC, made their opinion known in a letter dated November 24 to the secretary to the electoral commission.
According to them, the governorship ticket does not belong to the party, contrary to the position of the APC leadership.
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“The political party cannot forward the name of another person to fill the position for the purpose of completing the process.
“This is for the reason that the Electoral Act envisages only a situation where the candidate who must be declared elected must have taken part at all stages of the election. This means, both the process of nomination and the election itself.
“Section 141 of the Electoral Act stipulates as follows: ‘An election tribunal or court shall not under any circumstance declare any person a winner at an election in which such a person has not fully participated in all the stages of the said election,” they said.
They asked INEC to conduct a fresh election in all the 21 local government areas and cancel the November 21 governorship poll in the state.
The lawyers advised: “We are of the opinion that the best option in the circumstance is to countermand the election to the office of the Governor of Kogi State, call for a nomination of another governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and schedule another date for election in all the 21 Local Government Areas.”
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The lawyers said the nature of the political crisis in Kogi was never envisaged by the 1999 Constitution, which only had provision for a situation where a candidate had been declared duly elected.
They warned the INEC against going to court to seek any interpretation because the legal process might prolong the political stalemate in Kogi state.
The advice said: “In a normal situation, especially in a legal system which assures speedy disposal of matters, it may not be out of place for the commission to proceed to court to seek clarification on what appears novel.
“However, proceeding along that course will no doubt attract several interest groups who may simply employ the system of incessant applications for joinder, not only to frustrate what may be a an attempt to attain a lofty objective by the commission, but defeat the course of democracy.
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“There is a clear likelihood that such a case will proceed to the Supreme Court, which will obviously be protracted for such duration that will expose the Commission to attacks of being partisan.
“Whatever decision the commission arrives, may be challenged, but it is important that all decisions be made on the foundation of law.”
The death of the APC’s candidate, Audu, triggered controversy in the state. While some wanted the son of the late Audu, Mohammed Audu, to succeed his father, others preferred James Faleke, Audu’s running mate.
However, the APC picked Yahaya Bello as the replacement for Audu. This was rejected by Faleke and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s candidate, Governor Idris Wada as both approached the Federal High Court to seek redress.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Federal High Court in Abuja will today deliver his judgement over the propriety of the conduct of the supplementary poll in Kogi state.
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