Kogi Tribunal Judgement and Fears of Presidential Interference by Ojonugwa Adamu

303
Spread the love

As Kogi people home and abroad hold their breaths awaiting the landmark governorship petition tribunal judgement slated for 6th and 7th June, 2016, there is palpable fears that the judgement will be influenced by hawks in the Presidency.

While many will readily vouch for the integrity of President Muhammadu Buhari not to meddle in the judicial process but many of us are beginning to doubt this. While many of my associates will allege that it is presidency hawks that drop the President’s name to perpetuate illegalities, many Kogites, and indeed Nigerians, are worried that President Buhari has repeatedly refused to distance himself from these acts of interference and perpetuation of illegalities.

Most notorious on Kogi issues is the Minister for Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Alhaji Abubakar Malami SAN. One will recall readily that the All Progressives Congress, APC, working on the advise from the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, replaced Late Prince Abubakar Audu with Alhaji Yahaya Bello as her candidate for the December 5, 2015 ‘supplementary election’. It is worthy to note that Justice Gabriel Kolawole of Abuja High Court, in his 20-page judgement on December 4, 2015 reasoned that APC “…may have been led or perhaps, misled by the partisan or otherwise legal opinion or advice of the Attorney General of the Federation…” to substitute its late governorship candidate who already had a deputy in waiting. The AGF’s political advise is still a cause for concern in legal circles.

More recently, Kogi people came under shock when the same AGF interfered again in the heat of Kogi state house of assembly crisis. The lower and upper chambers of the National Assembly had okayed the sealing of the assembly complex and take-over by the House of Representatives but Malami issued his own legal ‘ruling’ to support the glaring illegality going on Kogi state house of assembly! Today, Kogi state government is working with an illegal assembly, illegal budget and illegal commissioners riding on the wings of Malami’s legal position!

The whole world is aware that a court of competent jurisdiction has ruled that the authentic Speaker, Momohjimoh Lawal be reinstated but the court order has not been obeyed, a clear case of contempt of court! Curiously, security agencies whose action are largely under the purview of Federal Government are aiding this illegality. This further heighten our fears that same Federal forces promoting illegalities in Kogi assembly will undemocratically ‘hijack’ next week tribunal judgement.

It is no secret in Kogi state that the current sojourner in government house flaunts his closeness to President Buhari and his family. Ask the Kogite on the streets of Lokoja and they will tell you that the governor behaves the way he likes because they call him Buhari’s first son.

As they plan and plot to derail Kogi governorship tribunal judgement next week, let them have it at the back of their minds that they are waging a serious war against the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

It is a fact that Yahaya Bello was invalidly nominated for the controversial supplementary elections in 2015. The mandatory provision of section 187(1) of the Constitution providing in crystal clear terms and language that ‘…a candidate for the office of Governor of a State shall not be deemed to have been validly nominated for such office unless he nominates another candidate as his associate for his running for the office of Governor..’”

It is a fact that Yahaya Bello is not qualified to vote and be voted for in Kogi State. The electoral rules is clear that:

A person shall be qualified to contest the Presidential, Governorship or National Assembly elections if:

(a) he is ordinarily resident in the constituency in which he intends to contest the election or is an indigene of that constituency;

(b) he is registered as a voter in the Constituency in which he intends to contest the election;

(c) he produces evidence of tax payment as and when due for a period of three consecutive years immediately preceding the year of the election or is exempted therefrom;

Alhaji Yahaya Bello’s unit is Open Space at Asubo Area polling unit 011 of Okeneba/Agassa/Ahachi ward 07 in Okene Local Government Area of Kogi state but he is registered to vote and be voted for in Abuja.

It is a fact that Alhaji Yahaya Bello only garnered 6,885 votes and was erroneously declared winner by INEC. The constitution of Nigeria and the electoral act did not empower INEC to execute an ‘electoral will’ that offers vote inheritance to an usurper. For the avoidance of doubt, the votes announced by INEC for candidates in 2015 2-way governorship election in kogi state stand as follows:

Prince Abubakar Audu – 240,867

Captain Idris Wada – 204,877

Dr Philips Omeiza Salawu – 8,756

Alhaji Yahaya Bello – 6,885.

INEC plotted a coup against the Nigerian constitution by declaring Yahaya Bello as the Kogi State Governor. We are watching to see if the tribunal judgement will import votes inheritance into our constitution. Yahaya Bello cannot take the oath of the late Audu, it is against the law and Electoral Act. The present arrangement in Kogi cannot stand.

It is a fact that Alhaji Yahaya Bello did not participate in all stages of the elections. Yes, he participated and came second in the APC primaries and participated in the controversial supplementary election but never participated in the November 21, 2015 election proper!

It is a fact that Alhaji Yahaya Bello’s inauguration without a deputy is an anomaly and invalid.

It is a fact that there were irregularities recorded during the November 21 election. Based on investigations conducted by a team of electoral forensic experts, a total of 172,426 votes were invalidated by the said irregularities. 119,062 of the invalidated votes were recorded in favour of APC while 53,364 of such votes were recorded in favour of the PDP.

Kogites home and abroad and all defenders of democracy worldwide are waiting patiently to see if the highly revered tribunal will uphold the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or abuse it. It will take Judgement crafted outside the laws of the land for Yahaya Bello to survive.

Our fears of interference are understandable and can only be assuaged by upholding the rule of law in this all-important tribunal judgement. A lot is attached to this judgement in Kogi state.

– Adamu Ojonugwa writes from Lokoja

 


Spread the love



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *