This election will be nullified—LP

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

Today, the people of Cross River State will cast their votes to elect who will be in charge of their affairs in the next four years. Though the election was initially scheduled for April 14, by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, after the January 27 Supreme Court judgment that sacked five governors from office, the commission adjusted the time table for elections in four states as that of Kogi state had already been conducted before the judgment.

According to the commission’s new time table, the Cross River State governorship election was fixed for February 25, which is today. This date has brought a lot of accusation against the INEC by the opposition political parties in the state that seem not to be prepared for the new date.

Liyel Imoke, Theophilus Onyuku and Mary Ogoba Ekpere

In a stakeholders forum organized by the INEC chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega on Wednesday with the 12 political parties that are participating in today’s election, the parties, except the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, accused the commission of ambushing the opposition in favour of the PDP, saying though they will be participating in the polls, the exercise will be a nullity as they will be heading for  the court over alleged constitutional breach by the commission.

The governorship candidate for Labour Party, LP, Mrs. Imah Nsa-Adegoke, wondered why the commission should be in so much hurry to conduct the election, less than 60 days the Supreme Court judgment was delivered.

She said, “The decision of INEC on the February 25 negates the position of parties. The only consolation I have is that on February 25, we are going to have an election that will be nullified. We have told INEC that we will take this case as far as it will go because we cannot afford to have statutes that govern the plan that is abridged unilaterally to the detriment of other political parties.”

But the INEC boss in his reply to the comments of Adegoke said the commission after the judgment asked the parties to give names of their candidates within a time frame, and all them gave names of their parties within that time frame which he said was in compliance with the timetable.

He also told the candidates that after the judgment, the commission was compelled by the circumstances to adjust the date so as not to create a vacuum in governance.

The LP candidate in his reply said, “I am saddened by the choice of words by the INEC chairman that it was compelled to abridge the time table. I think it is a compulsion of ignorance. It abridged the time table unilaterally to the detriment of other political parties.

“The statutory requirements have not been done, voters’ register not displayed and I don’t know whether voters’ names are still on the register.

“When Jega said we complained with the adjustment, we did that because we do not want to be in a situation where we are told that we did not participate. So, on that note, we will participate and we are asking for a fair play.”

For the Congress for Progressive Change governorship candidate, Mrs. Mary Ekpere, the action of the INEC to fix the election today is suspicious and runs contrary to the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999, as amended and the Electoral Act.

Ekpere said, “Sequel to the judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered on the 27th of January, 2012, we were shocked to receive the information/directives from INEC that the governorship election for Cross River State shall hold on the 25th day of February, 2012, as against the earlier slated date of the 14th April, 2012.

“As a political party with the constitutional rights and privileges to participate in the forthcoming governorship election in Cross River State, we find this action unconstitutional as it contravenes the provisions of the Electoral Act 2011 (As Amended), which is the fundamental law that guides the practice and procedure for the conduct of elections in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Our argument is anchored on Section 31(1) and 34 of the Act which specifically provides thus:

5.31(1)Every political party shall not later than 60 days before the date appointed for a general election……submit to the Commission in the prescribed forms, the list of the candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the elections, provided that the Commission shall not reject or disqualify candidates for any whatsoever.

“5.34“The Commission shall, at least 30 days before the day of the election publish by displaying or causing to be displayed at the relevant office or offices of the Commission and on the Commission’s website a statement of the full names and addresses of all candidates standing nominated.”

She contended that no political parties submitted the list of its nominated candidates 60 days before the present date appointed for this election, INEC did not publish or display a statement of the full names and addresses of the candidate standing nomination thirty (30) days from the present appointed date for this election? “Against the above background, we wish to bring to the notice of the INEC that the provisions of the Act are sacrosanct and mandatory being an Act of the National Assembly, this is trite.

It is therefore indisputable that any non-compliance with the provisions of the Act will render any election conducted illegal, null and void.”

Another candidate, Dr. Theo Osim Onyuku who is contesting the election on the platform of the Hope Democratic Party, HDP, said that the action of INEC amounted to ambushing the opposition in favour of the PDP and that before arriving at the date, the commission should have convened a meeting with the political parties and other stakeholders to discus it.

Although some of the candidates have made up their mind to challenge the election in the court even before the conduct of the exercise, that did not stop Prof. Jega to explain why certain decisions were taken.

According to him, “INEC changed the timetable for the election because we were compelled by circumstances to do that. The judgment of the Supreme Court made it imperative for us to take another look at the time table. And in taking that look at the timetable, we had the advice of the best lawyers that we had consulted.

“Obviously, the reason that was uppermost in our minds in fixing the timetable as we rescheduled the elections had to do with the need not to allow continued vacuum in the governance in the states, where the Supreme Court said the tenure of the governors had expired.

“With that judgment of the Supreme Court, we all know that the governors vacated their offices and speakers of the houses of state assemblies, who technically are supposed to preside over legislators and who the constitution only anticipated them to act for governorship positions under very unusual circumstances had to take over.

“And for us, there was a compelling need to adjust to ensure that the vacancies are filled as soon as possible. That was primary and we did it legally from all the legal advice that we have had. The electoral act and the constitution have given INEC the powers to issue timetable and we have issued the timetable and the timetable we issued obviously was conditioned by the circumstances under which we confronted ourselves.”

He said that the decision was in the best interest of the state as well as the best interest of Nigeria, adding, “we are confronted by a situation in which the Supreme Court says the tenure of five governors had expired. We had already set a timetable which we could manage for the initial two states, but for the coming states, we had to ensure that not much time is taken before the vacancies are filled.

“And we think it is the in the interest of governance in this country to do that, and we believe what we have done is correct constitutionally. We have the power to issue a timetable or to alter it and we have done so and we have not violated any constitutional or electoral act provision.”