Abubakar Malami, attorney-general
of the federation, says postponing the Zamfara elections is a right of the All
Progressives Congress (APC), and not a favour.
Malami said this while responding
to the reports on the letter he wrote to the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) on the elections in Zamfara.
In a statement which Salihu Isah,
his spokesman, issued on his behalf on Thursday, the attorney-general said he
did not ask the commission to postpone the election in the state but only asked
INEC to comply with the directive of the appeal court.
Malami said since the court of
appeal confirmed that the APC in the state held primary elections, section 38
and 39 of the Electoral Act empowered the commission to postpone the election.
“The attention of the Office of
the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has
been drawn to a recent publication by certain social media and conventional
news outlets stating that this Office had purportedly requested the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the elections in Zamfara
State,” the statement read.
“In our letter dated February 13,
2019 addressed to the INEC Chairman, the Honourable Attorney of the Federation
in reacting to a petition from M.A Mahmud informing this Office of the
subsisting Court of Appeal decision in CA/S/22/2019 which effectively upheld
the APC primaries in Zamfara state, wrote to INEC informing them of this
development and requested the Commission to comply by extending the time within
which the political party candidate in the Gubernatorial elections.
“In view of the fact, now that
the Court of Appeal has upheld the primaries as valid, the APC in Zamfara State
will need a little time to catch up with its contemporaries in the election.
“Granting them this concession is
not necessarily a favour but a right that inures to all contestants under
similar circumstances.
“Consequent on the above, INEC is
invited to comply with the judgement of the Court of Appeal by admitting the
results of the APC Zamfara State Primaries and to also comply with the
provisions of Section38 of the Electoral Act which empowers INEC to postpone
the election for the governorship, National Assembly and House of Assembly
Elections.”
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