The running mate to late Abubakar Audu, the candidate of the All
Progressives Congress in Saturday's governorship election in Kogi
State, has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,
to declare him governor elect.
James Faleke, in a November 26 letter to INEC Chairman, Mahmood
Yakubu, insisted that under Section 187 of the 1999 Constitution, he
was duly elected as deputy governor of Kogi State.
While expressing sadness over the demise of his principal, Abubakar
Audu, the deputy governorship candidate said INEC had no right under
the law to declare the election inconclusive.
He accused INEC of deliberately creating what he called "legal
conundrum" and urged the APC not to be a party to the action.
"In law and logic, no new candidate can inherit or be a beneficiary of
the votes already cast, counted and declared by INEC before that
candidate was nominated and purportedly sponsored," Mr. Faleke wrote
through his counsel, Wole Olanipekun.
"Assuming without conceding that INEC is even right to order a
supplementary election, the votes already cast, counted and declared
on Saturday, 25th November 2015, were votes for the joint
constitutional ticket of Prince Abubakar Audu and our client.
"Therefore, no new or 'supplementary' candidate can hijack, aggregate,
appropriate or inherit the said votes."
In another letter to APC Chairman, John Oyegun, Mr. Faleke urged his
party to distance itself from the "Greek Gift" being offered to it to
nominate a new candidate for a planned supplementary election in 91
polling units.
He said the election had already been won and lost, and that the party
should rather support him in actualizing the mandate already given to
APC and its candidates.
According to the result declared by INEC, Mr. Audu had the highest
number of votes thus leading the 21 other candidates, including the
incumbent governor of Kogi State, Idris Wada, who was the flagbearer
of the Peoples Democratic Party.
However, INEC declared the election inconclusive and ordered
supplementary election in 91 polling units.
The Commission also said on Tuesday that despite the demise of Mr.
Audu, it would go ahead with the supplementary election and advised
the APC to nominate a replacement for the late APC candidate.
The APC, on its part, resolved to organise a fresh primary election to
pick a new candidate for the supplementary election fixed for December
5.
But in his three-page letter to INEC, Mr. Faleke argued that in
accordance with the Electoral Act and INEC Guidelines/Regulations,
results of the election were declared, first at the polling unit
level, then at the ward level and later at the local government level.
He said as the declaration was made by the electoral body, it was
simultaneously relayed and announced on radio and television stations,
both private and public, as well as on social media
He also said the necessary INEC forms, including but not limited to
Forms ECBA, ECBB, and ECBC were filled, signed and made available to
the respective political parties which participated at the election.
Stating that the election to the office of the governor is regulated
by sections 178 and 179 of the Constitution while nomination to the
office is regulated by Section 187 of the document, Mr. Faleke
insisted the election had been completed in accordance with the
provisions of the constitution.
"Therefore, INEC has no alternative or discretion other than to
announce the result of the election and declare our client as the
winner," he said.
"With much respect to INEC under your very distinguished chairmanship,
the reasons given by INEC to declare the election as inconclusive are
alien to the constitution and, therefore unconstitutional.
"With further respect to INEC, cancellation of election result by it
cannot be a ground for declaring any election as inconclusive.
"INEC is enjoined to declare a winner of an election based on lawful
votes cast.
Thus, the cancelled results by INEC for whatever reasons and assuming
without conceding that INEC could legitimately cancel such results,
amount to unlawful votes, in effect, INEC cannot declare a well
concluded election as inconclusive based on unlawful votes."
Mr. Faleke said INEC's wrong declaration of the result as inconclusive
had no nexus with the passing on of Mr. Audu.
He advised that INEC "should not confuse the situation with what it
intended in Section 33 of the Electoral Act because the situation on
ground has nothing to do with changing or substitution of the name of
a candidate before election."
He added, "Mr. Chairman Sir, this is a rather simple and
straightforward matter which does not need any delay, foot dragging or
procrastination. It is a constitutional imperative.
"Put in another way, INEC has a burden duty to declare our client as
the winner of the election. Any attempt to conduct any supplementary
election in any unit whatsoever and howsoever will amount to INEC
breaching and flouting the constitution, and our client will
definitely challenge it."
In the letter addressed to the National Chairman of the APC, John
Oyegun, Mr. Olanipekun, on behalf of Mr. Faleke, said the scores
already announced for APC was final and binding.
He suggested that by parity of reasoning, the APC should be declared
the winner of the election while Mr. Faleke is declared as
governor-elect.
He said, "Arising from the foregoing our client enjoins the APC not
only to support him (Faleke) at actualizing the mandate already given
to the party under the joint ticket of himself and the late Prince
Abubakar Audu, but to also distance itself from the "Greek gift" offer
being made by INEC, to wit, that it is allowing the APC to conduct a
fresh primary election to nominate a candidate for a supplementary
election in 91 polling units where only about 25,000 PVCs are
available: whereas the APC is already leading by the announced results
with over 40,000 votes.
"In parenthesis, we urge the APC, under your able leadership, to
speedily look into and act on our client's position as stipulated in
this letter."
-PremiumTimes
