Femi Falana, a senior advocate in Nigeria, says that the decisions made by the appellate court to remove Governors Abba Yusuf of Kano State and Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State should be reviewed. This is because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not fulfil its mandate to hold fair elections in the nation, and the court should not invalidate thousands of votes because INEC personnel neglected to stamp ballots.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, Falana argued that the votes of Nigerians should not be thrown away by the legal system due to the purported incompetence of the election umpire, who ought not to have approved candidates nominated by parties without holding primaries.
The senior attorney claims that INEC did not exercise due diligence before or during the elections and maintains that any concerns pertaining to the elections must be settled before the day of the inauguration. Those who are not happy with the decisions made by the appeals court may appeal to the Supreme Court.
“If you look at what happened in Lagos is different from what happened in Plateau. You are being told in Plateau that there was a judgement of the high court to the effect that primaries have to be conducted. The judgement, as usual, was dishonoured and disobeyed and the election went on,” the senior lawyer said.
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“It is different from Kano where you are being told that voters can be punished. It is a very dangerous judicial policy to sanction voters for the mistake of electoral officers. We are being told that 165,000 votes are wasted, they are invalid because some electoral officers committed an error by not stamping them. How does that affect the validity of election?
“I do hope that this time around the Supreme Court will resolve these needless controversies surrounding the non-stamping of ballot papers by INEC officials who have not been recommended for any sanction.
“This is why these judgements will have to be reviewed.”
He asserted that the political elite needs to learn to abide by the court’s ruling.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Nasir Gawuna, who defeated Yusuf of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), was proclaimed the election’s victor by the appellate court last week. Additionally, on Sunday, the appellate court dismissed Mutfwang of the PDP and directed INEC to provide Nentawe Goshwe of the APC a Certificate of Return. The party, according to the court, disobeyed the injunction for a legitimate congress to be held in each of the state’s 17 local government districts.
Eight months after the poll was deemed inconclusive, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) governor in Zamfara was fired by the appellate court. The court mandated that INEC hold new elections in the state’s three local government areas. The two front-runners in the contest are Bello Matawalle of the APC and Lawal of the PDP.
