Ardo wants Adamawa guber election postponed on ‘error’ grounds
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa State, Dr Umar Ardo, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the planned February 28 governorship election in the state based on some errors.
In a letter addressed to INEC chairman Prof Attahiru Jega and obtained by Daily Trust, Ardo said the Adamawa governorship elections should be postponed because the period that former governor Murtala Nyako and his then deputy Bala James Ngilari vacated office in 2008 for a re-run election should not be counted as part of their 4-year tenure.
He said in the letter dated January 22 and titled ‘It is an error of law to conduct governorship election in Adamawa State on 28th February 2015’ and that based on the period Nyako and Ngilari stayed out of office, their tenure should expire on August 1, 2015 and not on May 29.
“You may wish to recall that the Nyako/Ngilari gubernatorial ticket in Adamawa State is among the five states of the federation whose governorship election was nullified by the Election Tribunal in February 2008, but contested a re-run election and won.
He said a Supreme Court judgement on the matter on January 12, 2012 revealed “the inevitable conclusion that the conduct of governorship election in Adamawa State on 28th February, 2015 alongside other states as scheduled is an error of law,” he said.
He added that, “the governorship election of Adamawa State was nullified on 26/2/2008, the same day the governor and his deputy vacated office, and were re-sworn back into office on 30/4/2008 after winning the re-run election.
He said the judgment “explicitly means that the two months, three days that they were out of office cannot be computed in calculating their 4-year term of office. This further means that the actual date of expiration of the Nyako/Ngilari second term of four years is 1st August, 2015 and not 29th May 2015.”
“In view of the above, it is obvious that the scheduled holding of governorship election in Adamawa State on 28th February is a clear breach of the law as interpreted by the apex court,” he added and urged INEC to put the election in the state on hold.
He said, however, that if INEC insists on going ahead with the elections as planned, he would be left with no option than to institute a legal action against the commission.