How Courts, Politicians Are Shaping Today’s Supplementary Election
Ainconclusive election predates the current leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the phenomenon is becoming an albatross robbing the electoral process of credibility.
The ripples created by INEC’S inability to declare a winner in the first ballot of last year’s Osun State governorship election are yet to settle, even with the judgment on the outcome by the Election Petition Tribunal yesterday.
The outcome of the subsequent run-off poll between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is one reason many Nigerians, particularly PDP and its faithful, are wary of any such in the country, more so, where it appears to be leading in the first ballot, like it did in the Osun case.
For the records, supplementary election is to hold in 18 states for various seats. The PDP was ahead of APC in most of the elections, but violence in some polling units and wards marred the exercise; hence cancellation of results from there made INEC to declare the poll inconclusive and fix a date for election to be conducted in the affected areas, since the total number of registered voters were more than the margin between the leading party and its closest rival.
The events, scheming and horse-trading that followed and preceded the Osun supplementary election, as well as the conduct of the poll itself, left a sour taste in the mouth of many residents and Nigerians, as well as local and foreign observers. This has led to lack of trust or distrust in INEC to deliver free, fair and credible supplementary election afterwards and today in the states where such is holding.
Following the inconclusiveness of the poll in Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Kano, Plateau and Sokoto states, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said the commission, after a review of the conduct of the March 9 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections, where winners were declared in 22 states, the returning officers in the affected states declared the exercise inconclusive and INEC fix supplementary elections to hold today to conclude the process.
Okoye cited discontinuation of use of the Smart Card Readers midway into the elections or the failure to deploy them, over-voting and widespread disruption in many polling units as reasons for the decision, saying: “In compliance with the Margin of Lead Principle derived from Sections 26 and 53 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and Paragraph 41(e) and 43(b) of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of elections, the outcome of these elections could not be determined without conducting polls in the affected polling units.
“Furthermore, the Commission has considered a report submitted by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Bauchi State on the disruption of the collation at the Tafawa Balewa Council collation centre, which led to the cancellation of results for the entire council. The Commission found that there are issues that need further investigation and has set up a team led by a National Commissioner to resolve them,” he added.
Even as the commission was set to conduct the supplementary election, several court rulings have put further roadblocks in the way of the exercise.
While the courts barred INEC from going ahead with the exercise in Bauchi and Adamawa, the continuation of collation of results in Rivers State has been scheduled for between April 2 and 5.
Justice Abdulaaziz Waziri of a state High Court in Yola, ordered INEC not to conduct the supplementary re-run slated for today, saying the polls should be put on hold until he rules on an application for an interlocutory injunction barring the commission from conducting the exercise and then adjourned the matter until Tuesday to give the ruling.
The Movement for Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD) and its candidate, Eric Theman, had asked the court to cancel the election on the grounds that the party’s logo is not on the ballot paper.
But INEC’S lead Counsel, Tanimu Inuwa (SAN), prayed the court to discharge the injunction on grounds that it has no jurisdiction to entertain the case, citing Section 25, Subsection 1 of the Constitution, adding: “INEC, being a federal organ, challenging its decision should be through a federal high court, not a state high court” and the issues being canvassed before the court touched on the conduct of elections and that Section 285, Subsection 2 of the Constitution places conduct of an election in the purview of election tribunals.
Justice Waziri adjourned the case to March 26 to enable him study the voluminous documents submitted by the counsel to the various parties.
There were indications that the process would be concluded in Kano, Benue, Plateau and Sokoto states, barring any last minute judicial pronouncement putting it on hold.
First was a court order, restraining INEC from continuing with the collation and subsequent announcement of the results of Tafawa Balewa Council of Bauchi State in relation to the governorship election.”
Ahead of the poll, the two leading parties have been wooing voters with all manner of inducements in addition to lobbying other political parties for support, as well as pressurising religious leaders to help them convince members of their congregation to vote for them, even though they always deny this.
IState, leaders of the two major political parties- APC and PDP- begun wooing supporters of other political parties in the state ahead of today’s supplementary election.
PDP candidate and one-time acting governor of the state, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, going by the figures released by INEC in the last election, has the advantage, courtesy of the 32,476 votes difference over the APC candidate, Governor Jubrilla Bindow, who is seeking re-election.
Based on the voters data in the 44 polling units in the 14 councils of the state, political analysts in the state believed the governor’s battle to secure a second term is already a lost one.
To worsen his political nightmare, APC chieftains in the state last week asked him to concede defeat and congratulate Fintiri, as the winner of the poll, to avoid unnecessary political tension in the state.
Spokesman of the group, leader of President Muhammadu Buhari, supporters and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir David Lawal, last week in Yola said: “The only honourable thing to do is for my party’s candidate, Bindow, to concede and give peace a chance.
“The next election is only four years away, Bindow can go back to the drawing board and launch himself back. Therefore, let us not allow elections to cause trouble between brothers.”
Lawal pointed out that the results of the election, as announced by INEC, showed that Pdp/fintiri won by 367,472 votes, against 334,995 votes by the Apc/bindow; hence a former governor of the state, Mr. Boni Haruna, a PDP chieftain, said: “The margin of win by the PDP candidate is 32,476 votes.”
Lawal added: “While we were waiting for the outright declaration of Fintiri as having won by a clear majority, we were taken aback with INEC’S declaration of the elections
as inconclusive, on the grounds that the margin of win by PDP (32,476), was less than 40,988 in 44 polling units, where the elections did not hold or were cancelled.
“The electoral body relied on Section 26 and 53 of the Electoral Act, and Regulations and Guidelines, Page17, Paragraph C to justify its actions.
“We wish to state that the action by the electoral body to declare Adamawa election as inconclusive is not only absurd, but untenable, most unfortunate and unacceptable. We wish to state or note that the national chairman had told the world that elections start and end at polling units. It is our understanding that if elections were cancelled at polling units or wards collation centres, they stand cancelled.
“We, therefore, find it curious for the electoral body to resurrect the issue of elections results that have been cancelled at the polling units to justify its action of declaring the governorship elections as inconclusive at the level of state collation or declaration of results.
“The position of the electoral body ordering a supplementary election on the basis that the margin of win was less that the number of cancelled results in the 44 polling units is untenable, because we have been able to establish that the number of PVCS collected in the 44 polling units was 31,027, these are the only eligible voters if there is going to be a rerun. The 31,027 is far less than the number of registered voters that INEC relied upon to decline declaring PDP winner of the governorship elections. “I, therefore, urged Bindow to phone
Fintiri and congratulate him, so that this matter will be laid to rest. There is no magic that can give the governor victory.” To compound matters for the governor, the where the supplementary election is holding todays are PDP stronghold. In the state assembly, House of Representatives and senatorial elections, the opposition party won the seats at all levels.
In Michika Council, which has the highest number of votes at stake today, with over 11,000 voters, PDP is in full control. Those elected for the state assembly are of PDP, same for Madagali/michika Federal Constituency and senator for Adamawa North, where Bindow and Fintiri hail from. In addition, Haruna is from Michika and the PDP returning officer for the election. He commands strong followership in the area due to his sterling performance as a two-term governor.
Madagali Council, the home of Fintiri, is among the areas being contested.
In Hong Council, PDP is entrenched. And with Lawal, as well as politicians like MajGen. Haladu A. Hananiah (rtd), APC protestants, such as Markus Gundiri, supporting Fintiri, many believe PDP would capture Hong.
Numan federation, which consists of four councils, is seen as a political desert for Bindow, especially as majority of APC members in the area have joined forces with PDP to ensure that Fintiri would see the governor off Government House on May 29.
The polling units in Numan have the second highest number of voters, only next Michika Council. In any case, Fintiri’s running mate, Seth Crowder, is from the area, more so, PDP has won all elections in the area with a clear majority of votes.
The Guardian investigation revealled that majority of the APC chieftains and some political office holders have entered into some political pacts with PDP ahead of today, realising that their candidate/boss was losing the election. The only council where Bindow is strong is Toungo, from where his deputy, Martins Babale, hails, but its votes might turn out inconsequential, as the two polling units there have only 400 voters and the PDP is a strong contender for them, due APC’S internal crisis in the area.
Mubi-north Council, Bindow’s homestead, has three polling units in Muchala ward, which is the den of PDP, as it ha always won elections there since 1999. The ward is located at the Nigeria border with Cameroun.
The senator-elect on the platform of PDP, Elisha Abbo, is from the area.
Perhaps the governor’s greatest headache is the fact that APC contestants that lost elections have already abandoned him to his fate.
Fintiri campaigned from one polling units to another, while Bindow was on political self-exile in Abuja for most of the period preceding today’s poll, allegedly seeking presidential support for the cancellation of the entire election results.
A serving commissioner in his cabinet, who spoke to The Guardian on condition of anonymity, said: “Even if INEC allocates the entire remaining votes, which is only 31,027, that is the total number people that collected Permanent Voters Cards (PVCS) in the 44 polling units to the governor, he would still lose the election.
“So, for me, there is no need for my party to waste time and money to participate in the election that we have already lost.”
On the rumour that APC might not participate in today’s election, the party’s state Publicity Secretary, Mohammed Abdullahi, told The Guardian that the list of his party agents would have been submitted to INEC by Wednesday, preparatory to the election. Some of the voters in the affected polling units, who spoke to The Guardian, described the election as an opportunity to get the attention of “the incoming government,” in terms of infrastructure development and appointments.
As PDP supporters in the state remain upbeat and wait to roll out their drums for celebration after the poll, APC members appear downcast, human traffic to and from the Government House and Governor’s residence slowed down over his political uncertainty immediately after INEC declared the election inconclusive and fixed supplementary poll today.
The question on the lips of many residents is whether today’s poll would be a confirma- tion of PDP’S victory or unseen hands would turn the table in favour of embattled Bindow.
This question would be answer by voters in the 44 polling units this “Super Saturday,” as one Adamawa politician put it.