Legal Practitioner Says INEC Cannot Cancel Anambra Election

A legal practitioner, Mr. Chukwuma Ezeala, says that the Independent National Electoral 

Commission in Nigeria (INEC) lacks the legal backing to cancel an election it had already announced its result. The comments came as some stakeholders in the November 16 governorship election in Anambra State have called for the cancelation of election that INEC declared inconclusive due to witnessed irregularities. Results Released INEC had released the results of the election on Monday morning, with the candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Willie Obiano, leading with 174,710 votes. The Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Tony Nwoye, followed with 94,356 votes, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Dr. Chirs Ngige, got 92,300 votes while the Labour 

Party’s candidate, Ifeanyi Uba, had 37,446 votes. A total of 1,786,536 persons registered in the state while the number of accredited voters for the election was 451,826. The number of votes cast was 429,549, representing 24.04 per cent of the total number of registered voters. A total of 10,544 votes were rejected.
 

After the announcement of the result, the electoral body declared the election inconclusive, saying it will fix a date for a supplementary election that will hold in the areas where the irregularities were noticed. On Channels Television breakfast programme, ‘Sunrise Daily,’ the lawyer faulted the call for the cancelation of the election and the conduct of a fresh election by opposition parties. Sabotage Of Electoral Process Mr. Ezeala, who is an international election observer, explained that political parties that had resentments about the conduct of the election and the result declared by the electoral body could seek redress in court or election tribunal. “That is their only option,” he said. “They are not lawyers and most of their advisers are not so they don’t know what the law stipulates.” The issues arising from the Anambra governorship election have cast aspersion on the ability of the electoral body to conduct Nigeria’s General Election in 2015. 

The credibility of the electoral body is at stake. Mr. Ezeala stressed that there was need for the electoral body to investigate what happened during the election for purposes of credibility in the electoral process. INEC had ordered the arrest of an official for alleged sabotage of the process. But Mr. Ezeala also said that records of such sabotage of electoral process contributed to the lack of trust for electoral officers in Nigeria. “Why should we be talking about sabotaging an election in Nigeria? ‘Lack Of Credible People’ “The problem we have is lack of credible people to manage elections. The person can sabotage the process because he knows that nothing will happen. “What encourages credibility is the ability of the government to prosecute people that have offended the law,” he stressed. The election observer also stated that the lack of credibility contributed to the delay in the commencement of elections in Nigeria. “Why would you not move materials closer to the place and give people around the place the result sheets? “When you don’t have credible people, you will be releasing the materials to the polling units on the day of the election. “In Ghana there is a measure of trust. There is trust to the extent that the sensitive materials will all be moved to far places a day or two before the election day,” he explained.

 Mr. Ezeala urged the electoral commission to instil discipline in the staff in order to earn the trust of the electorates. “The commission has the power to discipline the Resident Electoral Commissioner if he defaults, but it can’t sack the individual. “He could be disciplined for incompetence or negligence. The electoral commission can post them away from a particular state. It can make recommendations to the Senate for removal,” he further explained. The electoral commission will on Friday announce the date for the supplementary election but Mr. Ezeala was of the opinion that the electoral body should ensure that the fears of the political parties were allayed to restore credibility. 

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