Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN),
Femi Falana, said the judgements of the appellate court sacking Governor Abba
Yusuf of Kano State and Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State should be
reviewed.
Falana made this call in an interview on Channels
Television’s Sunday Politics.
According to him, the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) failed in its duty to conduct proper elections in the
country.
He said the votes of Nigerians should not be nullified by
the courts because of the supposed negligence of the electoral umpire that
shouldn’t have cleared candidates put forward by parties without primaries
conducted.
He also said thousands of votes should not be invalidated by
the court because INEC officials failed to stamp ballot sheets.
Falana noted that election matters should be concluded
before the inauguration of any administrations.
Recall the appellate court sacked three governors that INEC
declared as winners in the March 2023 poll. All the three governors sacked by
the appellate court are in opposition parties.
The court sacked Yusuf of the New Nigerian Peoples Party
(NNPP) and declared his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Nasir
Gawuna, as the winner of the poll.
In Zamfara, the appellate court sacked Governor Dauda Lawal
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when it declared the poll inconclusive
about eight months after.
The court ordered INEC to conduct a fresh election in three
local government areas of the state. PDP’s Lawal and APC’s Bello Matawalle are
the major contenders in the race.
On Sunday, the appellate court sacked PDP’s Mutfwang and
ordered INEC to issue a Certificate of Return to APC’s Nentawe Goshwe. The
court held that the party violated the court order that a valid congress be
conducted in the 17 local government areas of that state.
However, the appellate court affirmed the election of
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC in Lagos State.
But, peaking on the judgements of the appellate court,
Falana said INEC failed to perform due diligence before and during the
elections.
He said all those dissatisfied with the appeal court
verdicts can go 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.”
He said the political class must learn to comply with the
decision of the court.
“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.
On how that affect the validity of election, Falana said, “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.”
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