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PDP Drags APC, INEC to Court Over Plans to Present New Kogi Gubarnatorial Candidate
Posted by Lolade on Fri 27th Nov, 2015 - tori.ngThe opposition Peoples Democratic Party has filed a suit against the All Progressives Congress and the INEC for plans to substitute the candidacy of the late Prince Audu Abubakar.
The Peoples' Democratic Party, PDP, on Thursday, November 26, dragged the Federal Government, All Progressives Congress, APC, and Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to court over plans to field a new candidate to replace late Abubakar Audu in the inconclusive gubernatorial election in Kogi State.
The opposition party, while rising from an emergency National Caucus meeting in Abuja, also demanded that INEC returns the incumbent governor, Capt. Idris Wada as winner of the November 21st gubernatorial election, as the APC candidate, who was leading in the inconclusive election died during the process.
The PDP also said the proposed supplementary election would no longer be necessary as APC is not backed by either the constitution or electoral laws to substitute its candidate within the election period.
The resolutions of the caucus are that it: “Completely rejects the decision of INEC in yielding to the unlawful prompting of a clearly partisan Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Mallam Abubakar Malami, to allow APC to substitute a candidate in the middle of an election, even when such has no place in the Constitution and the Electoral Act.
“Insists that with the death of its candidate, Prince Abubakar Audu, the APC has legally crashed out of the governorship race as no known law or constitutional provision allows the substituting of candidates, once the ballot process has commenced.
“Insists that with the unfortunate death of Prince Abubakar Audu, APC has no valid candidate in the election, leaving INEC with no other lawful option than to declare the PDP candidate, Capt. Idris Wada as the winner of the election.
“Notes that the combine reading of the provisions of the constitution and Electoral Act does not in any war whatsoever support the substitution of candidates for election in the middle of the ballot process.”
PDP also maintained that if APC is allowed to substitute its original candidate, then the party would have fielded two separate candidates in the same election, a scenario that is completely outside the electoral laws and to any known democratic norms and practice world-over.
“Caucus observes that APC, fully aware that it has no case before the law is now orchestrating confusion in the polity with a view to diverting attention from its glaring incompetence and failure of governance.
“Observes that the leadership of INEC as presently constituted under the chairmanship of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has demonstrated that it is incapable of neutrality and as such cannot be vested with the conduct of the Kogi governorship supplementary election as well as the December 5, 2015 Bayelsa governorship election.
“As a result, caucus demands the immediate resignation of the chairman and all national commissioners of INEC to pave the way for a new nonpartisan commission to conduct the forth-coming elections,” it added.
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