By Peter Joseph
It has become imperative at this point to call on President Muhammadu Buhari to ask his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, to allow the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, conduct the rerun elections ordered by the court according to laid down rules and regulations.
The idea of APC trying to force the electoral body to accept new candidates emerging from fresh primaries conducted by them for some of the reruns contrary to relevant provisions of the law and court rulings is capable of causing serious damage to our democracy and also denting the image of President Buhari if the party is not cautioned.
By the provisions of the electoral act, the period for nomination for the elections that were canceled and reruns ordered has since elapsed, and so, there is just no way any party can conduct fresh primaries and present new candidates therefrom to INEC for the rerun polls. I made this point very clearly in my last article captioned: “Rerun polls: Why candidates cannot be changed”.
In the said article I cited the case between Labour Party (LP) and INEC on the Adamawa State governorship rerun in 2008 where LP sought to replace its candidate and INEC turned down its request on the ground that nomination had closed. The LP went to court but INEC won the case in a landmark judgement given by the Supreme Court which upheld the ruling of the Court of Appeal in favour of INEC and since then the verdict has served as a guiding law in the conduct of rerun elections in the country.
Why would APC, a party that came to power on the mantra of change and promised to allow for transparency in the system where things would be done properly according to laid down rules and standards, would now want to promote impunity and lawlessness? Why would a party that vowed to strengthen and reform our electoral and judicial system be railroading INEC into acting against the law of the land because of their political interest? Was it INEC that asked them not to do the right thing in nominating their candidates for the elections that were annulled on the basis of disqualification?
The APC must accept their disqualification in some of the rerun elections as ordered by the court in good faith and go and prepare for 2019 in those constituencies and senatorial districts affected. They should stop blackmailing and threatening INEC to accept their illegality because they are in power. What is happening now should be a great lesson to them and other political parties as we work towards enhancing our electoral system and advancing our nascent democracy.
In my last piece on this matter earlier referred to, I had implored INEC to be fully guided by the relevant laws in the land for the rerun elections. I am indeed happy to know that the electoral body is showing sign of its readiness to act according to the law. After the publication of my previous write-up, a staff of INEC told me the commission will never succumb to pressure from any quarters to do anything that does not agree with the electoral act and court verdicts on the issue of rerun elections.
A letter written to the National body of the APC addressed to the national chairman of the party, rejecting its nomination for the rerun poll scheduled to hold on Saturday (now postpone to Wednesday, January 27) in a federal constituency of Gombe State is an indication that INEC may have truly made up its mind to do the right thing. The said letter obtained from a source with reference number INEC/LEG/LM/GM/15/T/72 and the heading “Re: Submission of INEC Forms – Akko Federal Constituency By-election”, reads: “Your letter dated 27th November, 2015 ref. No. APC/NHDQ/INEC/015/262 but received in the Commission on 11th December, 2015 on the above subject matter refers.
The Commission has considered your submission of the name of Hamma Adama Ali Kumo as the candidate of the APC for Akko Federal Constituency in the election ordered by the court and regrets to inform you that the period for nomination of candidate for the election has since elapsed and is accordingly not acceptable.
Please accept the assurances of the Commission.”
By this letter, INEC has boldly and politely told APC that they are not going to accept new candidates for the rerun polls, maintaining that the period for nomination has since closed. So, any primary held for the purpose of the reruns is illegal. The electoral commission has made it abundantly clear that only the validly nominated candidates in the canceled elections can participate in the reruns. I must commend INEC for this rare courage displayed in telling APC the truth. They must endeavour to stand by their words and refused to bow to any form of intimidation from the ruling class.
Buhari must as a matter of urgency caution his party, APC to toe the path of honour by submitting itself to the dictate of the law and obeying the rules guiding elections in the country. APC stubbornly went ahead to conduct fresh primaries for the reruns in Kogi and Anambra States despite INEC’s letter to the party indicating that no fresh candidate will be accepted, while turning down its nomination for the Gombe House of Representatives rerun.
APC should know there is virtually nothing they can do about this issue, except, of course, they are going to put a gun to INEC’s neck to compel it to accept their fresh candidates for the rerun elections. I say this because going to court which should ordinarily be their next line of action would still not change anything. The court has since settled the case on matters like this.
APC should therefore have a rethink and abide by the law. Obedience to the law is paramount in the quest for growth and development in any democratic nation.
Joseph, a public affairs commentator writes from FCT, Abuja.
