Election Annulment and INEC dilemma
By Felix Adewumi
Introduction
When the Court of Appeal annulled the Election of Olagunsoye Oyinlola of
However the annulment had once again constituted another dilemma for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as it added Osun state to the list of headache the electoral body is expected to deal with.
When the tribunal started, what was unknown was the ability of the tribunals to arrive at a result and clear the air of all the illegality and irregularities that the election had brought, little did anybody know that the judiciary is set with a surprise for the nations when they began to correct the errors of the election.
A fact is becoming obvious from the spate of election annulment in some states in Nigeria, INEC has a difficult task ahead of them as they tends to balance the various elections times table in Nigeria starting from the Anambra State election.
States like Anambra State, Edo State, Delta State, Ekiti State, Ondo State Osun State and Rivers State may not participate in the 2011 gubernatorial elections as the annulments of election in those states brings out the possibility of the new governors’ term starting from the date of annulment.
Correcting INEC anomalies
Perhaps, one of the most interesting things in the judiciary was the role of the tribunal in correcting most of the election woes. About two months after the tribunal commenced sitting, the expected results starts coming in.
Governor Ibrahim Idris of
However, Idris and other governors saved INEC blush as they won the re-run elections in their states.
Though some might query the decisions of the tribunals and chose to challenge it, just as
Other elections were also nullified, some senators lose their seat with the outcome of the tribunal, house of representative members as well as house of assembly members also lost out.
Dateline – Anambra election
The INEC election drama started Anambra state during the Chris Ngige saga when after a series of power play, the Court of Appeal suddenly dismissed the election of Ngige and ordered that Peter Obi of the All People’s Grand Alliance be sworn in governor after Ngige had already spent three years in office.
Dr. Ngige’s last minute effort of appealing against the decision of the tribunal could not produce the desired result.
However problem started when INEC made an attempt to conducted an election in the state overlooking the tenure complicity the annulment of the election had caused, this made Obi not to seek election but rather head to the court to seek interpretation of his terms of office.
However, while the case was in court, INEC gambled with election in the state and Andy Uba, a Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) candidate won the election and was sworn in while Obi battle on in the court.
After series of arguments at the court which extended as far as the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court judgement returned Peter Obi as Governor of Anambra, thereby displacing Uba.
That Peter Obi’s judgement became a landmark judgement in which other states lean upon when they win the tribunal judgement in their state.
Rivers imbroglio
INEC shot itself in the foot when it disqualified Rotimi Amaechi from contesting in the 2007 gubernatorial election in Rivers state. An election in which Celestine Omehia later won
The disqualification of Amaechi by INEC was something that called for legal interpretation. Amaechi fought it out from the lower court to the Supreme Court, he never relented until he got his victory when the Supreme Court ordered that he should be sworn in as the governor of Rivers
Though Amaechi was defeated at the lower court, he still had the faith in the judiciary in arriving at a logical conclusion.
The
After a lull in the tribunal following the Amaechi and Obi’s landmark case, INEC was put under the hammer once more when the Court of Appeal upturned the election Professor Osaremen Osunbor of
Ondo state was a beneficiary of such judgment after the Court of Appeal in 2009 also sacked Olusegun Agagu and replaced him with Olusegun Mimiko who was said to have won the election in the first place.
The direct order of the Court of Appeal was a hard knock on INEC and the face saving talk of Professor Maurice Iwu, the then INEC chairman could not salvage the truth that INEC face a daunting task in telling Nigerians that it is ready for the task ahead.
Saving INEC blush in Ekiti state
A major event in the 2009 election petition tribunal was the upturning of the election of Olusegun Oni of
Although, Oni defeated Kayode Fayemi in the rerun which was marred with violence and massive protest, the judiciary could not be blamed for ordering a rerun in the state but it only point to the fact that the role of the judiciary is not finished in the state.
Out of desperation to justify the fact that Oni won the election, Mrs Adebayo Ayoka, the resident Electoral commission chairman in the state, suddenly played out a well rehearsed drama after initially failing to announce the election result and later backtracked and announcing a result where Oni was said to have taken most votes in a local government to complete his result and thereby winning the rerun.
Fayemi once more took the matter up at a newly constituted election tribunal to determine and just recently, the court of appeal finally sacked Oni and replaced him with Fayemi thus Fayemi started a fresh 4-year term.
The Ekiti tribunal also played is role when it upturned the election of Senator Femi Kila after it was discovered that he was not validly elected and also ordered a rerun in the election of Senator Ayo Arise who eventually won the rerun.
Osun Debacle
Just six months to the end of the tenure of Olagunsoye Oyinlola of
This has once more renewed the call for a review of the judicial system so as to help INEC in coming elections
Mr Wahab Shittu, a Lagos Lawyer stated that justice delayed is justice denied, the long period this is taking before justice is gotten in
Shittu also reiterated the call that for reform of the justice system stating that the judiciary ought to be tinkered upon so that future cases can be decided upon in time.
Echoing the call of Shittu, Mr Ebun Adegboruwa, a
Adegboruwa also expressed his displeasure over the fact that the judgement was coming just days after the times table for the 2011 elections have already been released and contestants have already been warming up for the election.
“It is so heartrending to note that judgement is coming after the time table for the coming election has been released and contestants are already emerging. The court of law should be reformed to ensure that petitions are heard in time” he said .
Jega’s Herculean Task
Professor Attahiru Jega, the INEC chairman was appointed with a burden of responsibility; to correct most anomalies of his predecessor as well as give INEC a new image.
Right now, Nigerians cannot trust INEC on election matters even after watching the way Jega has at various time changed the 2011 election timetable as well as even try to change the election date.
Already INEC are getting ready for the election period but it is not forgetting the fact that election might be conducted every year and every months after 2011 following the several annulments that have taken place in the states, national assemblies, State Assemblies and local government seats if issue of tenure is to be taken into consideration.
A local government chairman who was recently sworn in after the tribunal ordered that he was the winner of the 2008 local government election was said to have pointed out that he is starting a fresh term.
These and others are the dilemma faced by INEC coupled with the fact that the whole world is watching out for a free and fair election in 2011.
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