The recent fresh primaries that was conducted by All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kogi Central to present a fresh candidate to participate in the coming rerun election is obviously an exercise in nullity.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, can not be seen to be eating her own vomit by illegally legalizing illegality by allowing APC to present any candidate for the said rerun. It is no longer news that the Court of Appeal annulled the Kogi Central senatorial election and ordered for a fresh contest within 90 days. But the important thing to consider at this time is the need to do everything ac- cording to the law. The previous election was nullified because somebody who was not supposed to take part in it took part after not being properly nominated by his party, All Progressive Congress (APC). So, as preparation is ongoing for the ordered fresh election, it is important that all preparations must comply with the relevant laws.
We say this because if we go into the election, where improper candidates take part, it will expose the exercise to further nullification. I have seen the All Progressives Congress (APC) pretending not to know what the law says about situations like this. They are now going around to say that they are conducting primaries to present fresh candidates for the election. This is against the established law that only validly nominated candidates that took part in the nullified election will contest the fresh election ordered by the court. So, what this means is that at the stage where we are now, all political parties have been foreclosed from putting forward new candidates to represent them in the election.
The argument, which I have seen them make is that the court ordered fresh election and because the word “fresh election was used in the order of the Court of Appeal, it connotes that everything is to be started afresh, including nomination processes. I beg to say that such argument is a gross exhibition of ignorance of the law. A situation like this has risen in the past in Adamawa State, where the tribunal and the Court of Appeal nullified the governorship election in the state and ordered a fresh election. Labour Party tried to present a new candidate and INEC said it will not accept a new candidate. The party sued INEC, contending that it ought to be allowed to put in a candidate of its choice. That matter went from the Federal High Court in Katsina, which referred it to the Court of Appeal Kaduna division for constitutional interpretation.
The Court of Appeal, Kaduna division, in a unanimous decision, held that only the candidate who took part in the nullified election are those who will take part in the fresh election. The court reasoned that at that time, the nomination and screening of candidates have elapsed. So, this means that no party can change its candidates or introduce fresh candidates through new primaries. The lead judgment was delivered by Justice Ayo Salami, who later became the President of Court of Appeal. This judgment was delivered in 2008. The Labour Party was not happy with this judgment and it proceeded to the Supreme Court, and in a unanimous decision again through a lead judgment delivered by Justice Ogbuagu, the apex court held that a fresh election, re-run election or howsoever called, is an election that is pursuant to the nullification of a general election and that being the case, the only candidates that will go for the fresh election as correctly determined by the Court of Appeal, were candidates who took part in the nullified election.
The Supreme Court also said that no matter the intention of any other party, the period of nomination and screening of candidate have elapsed. So, there is no room for nomination of fresh candidates. Infact, the word it used is that the dramatis personae in the nullified election will go back for the fresh election. So, there is no chance for anybody to put in fresh candidates. So, in the present situation, only the candidates who were validly nominated by their parties and took part in the March 28, 2015 Kogi Central Senatorial District election, are the ones that will go for the fresh election.
These are processes of nomination before you go into the election proper. So, having crossed that stage, the PDP cannot hold a primary to cure the defects in its nomination of a candidate in an election that had been nullified. So, the party is clearly out of the way.
A similar case is that of the Akko federal constituency in Gombe State where INEC has already written a letter as attached rejecting the nomination of Dattuwa Ali Kumo by the APC for the Akko federal constituency rerun election on the same constitutional, we hope INEC will do the same in the case of Kogi Central and help avoid another round of litigation and annulment.
– By Kogi People’s Democrat.
