On Saturday April 15, supplementary elections were held across to conclude the cycle of general elections that started in Nigeria on February 25 2023.
In Adamawa State, the supplementary election that caught the attention of the nation was the governorship contest between the incumbent governor who is Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Ahmadu Fintri and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Aisha Binani.
Aisha caught the attention of the nation in the first ballot in which she was alleged to have been declared winner before the electoral umpire declared the election inconclusive. If her declaration on the first ballot had stood, she would have become the first female to be elected governor of a state in Nigeria’s democratic history. That generated a lot of buzz as a lot of women activists and those who push for gender mainstreaming in politics were solidly behind her. But elections are not about sentiments or wishes. It is about the numbers.
Going into the supplementary election, the incumbent governor was leading, but Binani and her supporters were confident that she would close the gap and overtake the incumbent. The outcome of the supplementary election was much anticipated.
Alas, the results came with drama which did not surprise many of us who witnessed the collation of the February 25 presidential election results in which a winner was announced in circumstances that shocked most Nigerians.
On Sunday, April 16, the media was awash with the story that the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Adamawa State, Hudu Ari, had unilaterally declared the candidate of APC, Aishatu Dahiru Binani, winner of the state governorship elections.
According to sections 64 and 65 of the Electoral Act, only the returning officer is empowered to declare the winner of the election. In this case only, Mele Lamido, the returning officer has the legal right to make any declaration.
The REC was said to have sneaked into the collation centre two hours before the scheduled time for the resumption of collation to declare the APC candidate, Aishatu Dahiru Binani, as the winner. While the entire state was awaiting the resumption of collation, Adamawa REC, Hudu Yunusa Ari, sneaked into the collation centre at around 9 am to unilaterally declare the APC candidate winner.
This is despite reports that details of the results released so far show that the PDP candidate was leading by a wide margin. On the 25th March when the initial election was declared inconclusive, the Adamawa State governor was already leading by 31,249 votes.
What could have given the REC the audacity to usurp the role of the state returning officer? Look no further than the INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu’s disregard to the complaints by the opposition parties at the national collation centre in Abuja after the February 25 presidential election. Recall that the opposition parties had alleged manipulation of the collation process and the INEC chairman had promised to look into their complaints. He never addressed those complaints before declaring the presidential candidate of APC Asiwaju Bola Tinubu the winner, while the aggrieved were told to go to court.
It seems the Adamawa REC was working with the same template. Like a son imitating his father (INEC chairman), Hudu Ari announced Binani as the winner expecting the incumbent governor and the PDP to go to court if they are unsatisfied. The only saving grace for the governor and the PDP is that the declaration was not made by the lawful person, which by law is the returning officer. The action of the REC could have set Adamawa on fire, but for the quick intervention of the state governor who called for calm. INEC also speedily disowned the purported declaration of Binani, as the winner of the supplementary governorship election.
In a statement by its National Commissioner, Information and Voter Education, Mr Festus Okoye, INEC said its “attention had been drawn to the purported declaration of Binani as winner by the REC, even when the process had not been concluded.” It added that the action of the REC was a usurpation of the powers of the state returning officer and was therefore null, void and of no effect.
Another surprise was the speed with which the gubernatorial candidate of the APC, Binani, delivered an acceptance speech shortly after she was illegally declared winner. It showed a level of desperation that is uncommon with female politicians.
Many of us support gender equality, especially in politics, because women are never desperate politicians like men. They are also better managers of resources whether public or private. I will be among those who will be happy for her and for the Nigerian women if she is declared winner following the due process. It is important that public office seekers be made aware that the process is far more important and critical than the final outcome. INEC must rid itself of rascality and impunity. And characters like the Adamawa REC who have no respect for due process and rule of law has no business in the Commission. The electoral umpire has to sanction all erring officials who carried out this illegal announcement and ensure that results are publicly available to all citizens.
It is important that laid down processes are adhered to on a clearly transparent manner in order to prevent a breakdown of law and order in this heightened political environment. This columnist believes that impunity breeds more impunity!
Dual Citizenship Is Barred For Critical Office Holders!
Dual citizenship, or multiple citizenship, is when a single person is legally recognized as a citizen of two or more countries at the same time. Dual citizenship is permitted in Nigeria but persons with dual citizenship are barred and are constitutionally ineligible to run for the following offices: House of Representatives or Senate, Section 66(1)(a); House of Assembly, Section 107(1)(a); Office of the President, Section 137(1)(a); and Office of Governor, Section 182(1)(a). This is the position of the constitution!
However, the importance of this issue was raised ahead of the APC presidential primary last year when human rights activist, Mr Kayode Ajulo, wrote a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari and the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, on the danger of picking a candidate with dual citizenship or past criminal record.
In a letter titled, “Secret Memo to the President and Leadership of the APC on the Eligibility of Persons to Contest for the Office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” dated May 22, 2022, Ajulo said it was important for the APC to get its act together so that the party would not lose its deserved victory.
Ajulo asked the APC to take into consideration the 1999 Constitution specifically Chapter VI, Part 1, Section 131 and which outlines the basic requirements to be met by a candidate to be eligible for an election into the office of the President in Nigeria. Ajulo said, “Section 137 of the same constitution as amended, goes further to illuminate this matter by providing for several situations which doth render a candidate ineligible to be elected as the President, stating that a candidate will be ineligible: If he/she has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a country other than Nigeria or has declared allegiance to such other country.”
In a July 31, 2017 article titled, “Can A Political Leader Hold Dual Citizenship And Avoid Conflicting Loyalties,” by Andy J. Semotiuk and published by Forbes, Semotiuk noted that a high office holder cannot have dual citizenship since that could result in conflict of interests. It is this conflict of interests that motivated the writers of our constitution to bar individuals with dual citizenship from office of president, governor or lawmaker!
Only a true patriot can be allowed into such offices. Any man who has such duality can wreck our country and flee to his alternate country. God forbid that. This alleged matter of Bola Ahmed Tinubu dual citizenship ought to be thoroughly scrutinised if we are serious as a nation of laws.
MAY NIGERIA REBOUND
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