BAYO AKINLOYE examines the stance of aggrieved, defeated candidates of the April 11 governorship election which was largely regarded as free, fair and credible by local and international observers
The electoral process, political analysts have noted, does not usually end with the conduct of an election. Sometimes, an election can spin into a rerun or a run-off. With local and international observers rating the conduct of the March 28 and April 11 elections as generally successful, the Independent National Electoral Commission may want to heave a sigh of relief. But that may not happen soon as some governorship candidates have rejected the outcome of the April 11 polls.
ADVERTISEMENT
Their reasons for being aggrieved are similar but each of the candidates offers his own story.
While the INEC declared Ifeanyi Okowa of the Peoples Democratic Party winner of the April 11 governorship poll in Delta State, his All Progressives Congress’ counterpart, Mr. O’tega Emerhor, rejected it. Emerhor also demanded its cancellation citing alleged fraudulent practices during the poll.
Emerhor said, “Recall that at the stakeholders’ meeting organised by INEC days before the elections, I spoke out on the fraud that marred the presidential election where results were cooked up and written without reference to the electorate.
“As it were, the presidential poll was the practice session for this fraud that has now been uniformly and unabashedly executed in all the South-South states from Akwa Ibom to Rivers and Delta states. In specifics, the fraud was executed at two levels.”
Also, the Labour Party governorship candidate in the state, Great Ogboru, rejected the election result. At a press conference last week in his Abraka home, he vowed to ensure that the result was upturned.
Ogboru said, “Okowa did not score majority of lawful votes cast in the election and did not also meet the relevant constitutional provisions. It is our firm belief that the return of Okowa as governor-elect does not reflect the democratic will of the majority of our electorate. We in the Labour Party went into the election trusting that INEC would deploy and use the card readers as enshrined in its 2015 guidelines for election officials. Regrettably, some officials of INEC violated the guideline and its further reassurance to our disadvantage. Card readers were overwhelmingly not used in Delta North and South. INEC officials allowed ‘toxic votes’ to be used to defeat the people’s will. These votes are unlawful and invalid.”
In Akwa Ibom, the APC governorship candidate, Umana Umana, is not taking his loss at the poll lying down. The governor-elect, Udom Emmanuel of the PDP, polled 996, 071 votes from 31 local government areas in the state to defeat Umana who had just 89, 865.
But the APC flag bearer insisted that elections did not hold in at least 90 per cent of the state’s polling units. He also claimed that there were seizing of election materials by armed thugs.
“I can say that we did not have elections in Akwa Ibom. What happened was a well-organised, state-sponsored terrorism against the people of the state using state apparatus. We will certainly challenge the result in court,” Umana said.
He claimed that he had evidence (video recordings and photographs) to prove that the elections was rigged in favour of the PDP’s candidate. He also accused the state government of complicity in the alleged electoral fraud.
The gale of complaints continued in Oyo where political observers said the jinx had been broken — no incumbent had before now won a re-election. The incumbent, Abiola Ajimobi of the APC was declared winner by the INEC.
But the governorship candidate of the Accord Party in the state, Rashidi Ladoja, said he would contest the election results.
Ladoja, a former governor, stated that he had enough evidence to annul the victory of the incumbent governor.
“We have enough concrete evidences, which we will present to the tribunal. We will not take laws into our hands,” he said.
In the election, Ladoja polled 254, 520 votes while Ajimobi had 327, 310.
A governorship candidadate in Ogun, the home state of former President Olusegun Obasanjo is also not satisfied with the outcome of the election.
The PDP candidate, Gboyega Isiaka’s Campaign Organisation expressed its dissatisfaction with the INEC. It rejected the result of the governorship poll, describing it as “unfortunate and a travesty staged to help the APC achieve victory.”
It claimed that the outcome of the election was clearly not a true reflection of the wish of the Ogun people and that the result would be challenged as appropriate.
Isiaka said, “Let us quickly state emphatically that we are displeased with the outcome of the governorship election particularly as being irregular in most aspects. However, we must state a few facts here to support our preliminary position. Before the election, we alerted that huge numbers of uncollected Permanent Voters Cards were in the possession of the APC stalwarts with the intention to give same to their party members for use with active connivance of compromised corps members and INEC staff.
“It is in the light of the foregoing that our legal officers and the party are looking at the results and they shall come up with a clear position on this election that was marred with gross irregularities.”
In Zamfara State, the All Progressive Grand Alliance candidate, Sani Shinkafi, also has an axe to grind with the electoral commission. He said after the final result of the governorship election in the state was announced that he was not happy with the INEC declaration. He rejected the poll result, saying it was an “electoral coup”.
He alleged that Governor Abdul’Azeez Abubakar in collaboration with the INEC and supported by security operatives ensured that he lost the election.
“The APGA and the Wambai Campaign Committee have rejected the results of Zamfara State governorship and State House of Assembly elections as declared by INEC. The outcome of the election is unacceptable, this is because there were widespread fraud, conspiracy and collusion among INEC, the Police, the military and Abdul’Azeez Yari regime, which led to criminal and large-scale rigging,” Shinkafi said.
Ogboru, Umana
He added, “The election was a charade because there was intimidation of voters and destruction of election results and other coordinated crimes by thugs.”
In Yobe State, the PDP’s governorship candidate, Adamu Waziri, said he was making plans to contest the result of the governorship election at the tribunal.
The incumbent Governor Ibrahim Gaidam was declared winner in the poll by the INEC. He won by 334, 847 votes against Waziri’s 179, 700 votes.
At a press conference, Waziri said he had enough evidence to prove that the results were compromised.
“With such evidence and subsequent events that followed has given enough ground that the election was conducted with cash inducement and we are going to the tribunal to challenge the election outcome. Since Ibrahim Gaidam was declared winner I have not offered any election statement, but this is the most opportune time for me to do so. I have not conceded defeat and I have not congratulated him.
“I have some mischief to settle from the result of the election. We intend to go to the tribunal to challenge the result. In many parts of Yobe, contrary to INEC’s directive card readers were not used. In other places the elections were not free and fair due to intimidation. This has given enough ground for us to contest the election result,” Waziri said.
In Enugu State, Okey Ezea of the APC has expressed similar grievances concerning the final outcome of the governorship election in his state.
For him, the declaration of the PDP’s governorship flag bearer, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, as the winner of the April 11 governorship poll is unacceptable though Ugwuanyi won in all the 17 local government areas in the state as announced by the INEC.
Ezea called for the cancellation of the results.
Nasarawa is another state where there is controversy over who actually won the April 11 poll. Former Minister of Information and the APGA governorship candidate in the state, Mr. Labaran Maku, is spoiling for a fight.
According to Maku, there were fraud, conspiracy and collusion among electoral and security stakeholders during the poll.
He claimed that he did not lose the election to the declared winner and incumbent governor, Tanko Al-Makura of the APC.
The poll, he noted, was characterised by reported ballot theft and “irregularities in government quarters.”
Political watchers in Rivers State have said the drama between the PDP and the APC continues — this time in the courtroom and not on the streets.
Dr. Dakuku Peterside of the APC who rejected the declaration of the PDP’s governorship candidate, Wike Nyesom, by INEC as winner of the governorship poll, through his campaign organisation, Greater Together Campaign Organisation, said the election was fraught with violence, killings and voters intimidation.
“We cannot therefore accept the purported result which is an aggregate of fraud, deceit, violence and bloodshed. Rivers State and her people were maximally defrauded by a partial umpire being the INEC, in collaboration with the PDP and compromised security agents,” the GTCO said.
Even though Borno is still under State of Emergency, it held what many described as a successful governorship poll. But one of the unsuccessful political parties during the poll said it would not take the issue lying down.
The PDP’s governorship candidate, Gambo Lawan, has refused to accept the result of the April 11 election in which the incumbent Governor Kashim Shettima was declared the winner by the electoral body.
Lawan described the result as an “allocation of scores rather than the will of the people.” He said the electoral process was far from being transparent and without fraud.
In Kebbi, the scenario is not much different. The PDP’s candidate, Sarkin Bello, has neither conceded defeat nor congratulated the winner of the poll.
Gboyega Nasir Isiaka
Bello was defeated by the APC’s, Sen. Atiku Bagudu who polled 477, 376 votes.
The PDP flag bearer told journalists that the party was making consultations in order to decide whether or not to go to the tribunal to challenge the results.
Legal experts and political observers who spoke to SUNDAY PUNCH stated that the decision of the aggrieved candidates to seek legal redress was not out place and that it would deepen the country’s democracy.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kemi Pinheiro, averred that the desire of the politicians to contest their loss in the court of law was a welcome development, adding that pursuing peaceful and lawful resolution of conflicts should always be encouraged.
Pinheiro said, “Those who discourage the ventilation of lawful grievances will only encourage anarchy. As long as they go through the right channel, the constitutionally provided procedure, their action is deemed to be proper. Even the Constitution and the Electoral Act recognise that there is no perfect election.”
For a constitutional lawyer, Mr. Fred Agbaje, electoral litigation is healthy for the nation’s growth and prevents anarchy.
He said, “There is no way our electoral jurisprudence can grow unless politicians who contested the results of elections, in accordance with the Constitution and Electoral Act are allowed to air their grievances due to the activity or inactivity of the electoral umpire and other political players.
“If these ones who are aggrieved feel rigged out or that the electoral processes are flawed, Section 17 of the Nigerian Constitution guarantees access to the court. The Electoral Act says that an individual can contest the outcome of an election if he feels aggrieved. It is part of democratic advancement instead of allowing politicians and their supporters to take laws into their hands. They are allowed to pursue their grievances within the framework and time frame of the tribunal.”
Though Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye in Ogun State agreed that the politicians have the right to air their displeasure, he said their efforts might be a waste of resources.
Tella said, “They have the right to exercise their fundamental rights, even when it is glaring they are wasting their time and money. The court cases will affirm the true position. The lawyers will remain engaged and courts will be busy which is good for developing politically and professionally. Generally, and in most, not all cases, the Independent National Electoral Commission will be vindicated.”
This view was shared by a lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan, Dr. Idowu Johnson.
Johnson said, “It is constitutional for aggrieved governorship candidates to seek redress at the election tribunal for any irregularities in the just concluded April governorship elections. However, most of these cases are not substantial enough to be proved at the tribunal. Hence, most of the cases are irrelevant to be challenged at the tribunal given the nature of popularity of winning candidates in their respective states in relation to good governance.”
No comments:
Post a Comment