‘Inconclusive’ And The Competence Of INEC – Emmanuel Balogun

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INEC has been humorously tagged, “Inconclusive National Electoral
Commission” while some are starting to question the competence of the
new head of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

Mahmood Yakubu was appointed on the 29th of October this year as the
INEC chairman, replacing Prof. Attahiru Jega who left in June at the
end of his appointment. Between June and October, an interim chairman,
Amina Zakari, was appointed by the president to lead the body.
Although Attahiru Jega’s legacy as an exemplary leader makes his shoes
hard to fill as he oversaw two free and fair general elections in 2011
and 2015, many were confident in the president’s decision to choose
Mahmood Yakubu was a solid one.
However, about a month in, it appears that INEC is already embroiled
in controversy.

The Kogi state elections were declared inconclusive because votes were
cancelled in 59 polling units due to “non-adherence to card reader
usage, over voting, ballot snatching, violence and other
irregularities.” Bayelsa state elections, too, were declared
inconclusive shortly afterwards for more or less the same reason. The
cancellation of the election results in Bayelsa was hailed by the
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) while the All Progressives Congress
(APC) called it an “attempt to manipulate the result in favour of a
particular party.”
However, while inconclusive elections are not good for democracy, perhaps it is
better to be safe than to be sorry.

All in all, it becomes doubtful that the Kogi Gubernatorial Election
was correctly declared inconclusive by reference to INEC guidelines
2015. The APC candidate won the highest votes and led in about 16, out
of 21 local government areas comprising Kogi State. Pursuant to
section 177 of the Constitution (as amended) the APC candidate should
have been declared winner and returned at the first ballot. A
supplementary election in the circumstances can hardly withstand a
Constitutional or judicial challenge if tested.

One cannot easily fathom a circumstance whereby defeated aspirants in
the original primaries can stake claim to a surviving interest
derivable from the death of the APC candidate once he emerged. The
legal scenario in the instant APC gubernatorial election is admittedly
recondite; it is an untested and previously never encountered
eventuality under our electoral jurisprudence; that is my humble
submission.  But need I caution that until the courts and tribunal
definitively speak to the issues.

Conclusively, INEC and Prof Mahmood Yakubu need to be careful not give
people cause to question their neutrality and ensure that they develop
preventative rather than reactive measures for free and fair
elections.

– By Balogun Emmanuel Funsho, from University Of Ilorin.

He can be reached on 07034444976 or via irule9ja@gmail.com


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