The last is yet to be heard of the controversy surrounding Kogi East Senatorial seat. This is even as the Independent National Electoral Commission has turned down a request by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) precedent to a petition by Senator Abdulrahman Abubakar seeking the unseating of the current occupant of the seat, Air Marshall Isaac Alfa. What, really, is going on?
Senator Abdulrahman Abubakar was returned by INEC as winner of Kogi East senatorial district election on the platform of the APC held on March 28, 2015 and was subsequently inaugurated on June 9, as a member of the 8th National Assembly.
But just as he was settling down at the upper chambers to face his legislative business, the certificate of return issued him was subsequently withdrawn by INEC on the grounds that he was not qualified to participate in the election based on the orders of the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Lokoja.
Following series of legal battles to reclaim his mandate, Senator Abubakar eventually petitioned the AGF seeking his intervention in the matter.
However, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has refused to comply with a request by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) conveyed in a letter urging the Chairman of the commission to reinstate the certificate of return earlier issued to Senator Abdulrahman Abubakar of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in respect of the 2015 Kogi East Senatorial election.
Following an appeal by Senator Abubakar, the judgment of the Tribunal was later set aside by the Court of Appeal, which ordered a fresh election to be conducted within 90 days.
The rerun election was, however, conducted by INEC without Senator Abubakar and his party, APC, participating. It produced Air Marshall Isaac Alfa of the opposition PDP as winner.
Justifying its action to conduct the rerun without the APC and its candidate, INEC said, “It is the settled position in law that where an election is nullified on account of disqualification, both the disqualified candidate and his/her party cannot participate in the rerun because the statutory period for substitution and nomination of candidates as provided in Section 31(1) and Section 35 of the Electoral Act 2010 has elapsed.”
Consequently, Abubakar went back to the Tribunal to challenge his non-inclusion in the rerun and later approached the Appeal Court.
Apparently frustrated, Senator Abubakar then petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari on September 9, 2016 seeking what he called ‘Presidential intervention’.
In the petition, Abubakar said: “considering the world acclaimed integrity of Mr. President, it will be unfair to allow this very high level of injustice to go unchecked. May I therefore appeal to His Excellency, the President to graciously intervene and see that this gross injustice is addressed.”
The embattled senator also forwarded a similar petition to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to intervene in the matter.
However, in a letter dated August 10, 2017, a request by the AGF urging INEC to reinstate the certificate of return to Senator Abubakar was turned down by the Commission’s chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who said there was no basis for such.
The letter titled ‘Re: Request for the intervention of your office to compel the INEC to cancel the certificate of return issued to Senator Attai Aidoko Ali Usman of the PDP in respect of Kogi East senatorial district and/or affirm the original certificate of return issued to Senator Abdulrahman Abubakar of the APC’, reads: “The setting aside of the judgment of the lower tribunal by the Court of Appeal on the determination of issue 1 is a total invalidation and nullification of the election of Air Marshall Isaac Alfa and later Senator Attai Aaidoko Ali Usman both of the PDP and, due to the expiration of the 180 days provided by the Nigerian Constitution (as amended), the determination of the status quo ante should be the legal and equitable approach to this matter.”
The AGF further stated, “It is in the interest of justice and in accordance with the principle of our constitutional democracy that the right of Senator Abdulrahman Abubakar of the APC, the returned winner of the 2015 Kogi East Senatorial district election, and the right of true representation of the people of Kogi East, be upheld by the reinstatement of the certificate of return issued to Senator Abdulrahman Abubakar of the APC.”
In a reply dated August 25, 2017, the INEC chairman, Professor Yakubu, refused to grant the request arguing that there was no consequential order to that effect from a court of competent jurisdiction.
“The Court of Appeal’s decision of 2nd December 2015 in CA/A/EPT/609/2015 that ordered the Commission to conduct a fresh election, remain the subsisting valid position on the Kogi East senatorial district election,” Yakubu said, stressing that the judgment of the Court of Appeal referred to by the AGF in his letter was only one in a number of judgments on the Kogi East senatorial election 2015.
Having exhausted all efforts to reclaim his seat, Senator Abubakar appears to have taken his case to the court of public opinion. He said rhetorically, “What else do I need to do to be on my seat at the red chambers of the National Assembly? All concerned should please come to my aid to ensure that justice is done and seen to be done.”
Credit: Daily Trust
