Group threatens court action against Kogi gov election

By Kingsley Fanwo (Vanguard news)

LOKOJA—The possibility of Kogi State governorship election holding has been threatened by the determination of FairWin, a political advocacy group, to challenge the legal propriety of the former INEC board to set the timetable for Kogi and Bayelsa polls.

Vanguard scooped that it was necessary to clear all legal hurdles leading to the election to give the recently constituted board the opportunity of organising governorship polls in the two states to avoid legal tussle.

It would be recalled that last week, a respected constitutional lawyer in the country, Mr Femi Falana, SAN, had raised an alarm over the legality of the previous board to take any decision concerning the two elections, in view of the fact that they could not form a quorum.
INEC had only 3 federal commissioners until Wednesday when President Muhammadu Buhari appointed a new chairman and other commissioners for the commission.

However, FairWin said there was need to test the legality of the timetables earlier released by INEC and whether they were valid.

The group opined that if, indeed, the commission could not form a quorum, the recent constitution of the commission could not validate the invalidity of the timetables rolled out by only three commissioners.

In a release by the group’s Director of Publicity, Prince Abdulkareem Onyekehi, yesterday, FairWin said it had an obligation to ensure the Kogi poll met all legal standards.

He said: “As supporters of the change agenda of Mr. President, we are determined to help move Nigeria away from the era of unconstitutionality.

“By so doing, we have determined to challenge the legal propriety of the elections timetable released by an INEC with only three commissioners. We need to ask court if we can continue with such timetable.

“Precedence has shown that decisions taken by even four commissioners of the commission. FairWin will want to know if three is greater than four.

“We are interested in ensuring any candidate will not have the opportunity of securing a legal cancellation of the entire process. The attendant economic implications on the nation will be monumental.

“We want to wait and see how the new commission will handle the whole situation before we take our next step. But it is certain that we will approach the court for legal interpretation.

“Section 159 of the 1999 constitution was clear on the issue of INEC quorum. At least, five commissioners are required to make a constitutional decision on issues. Only three commissioners decided on the timetables of election for Kogi and Bayelsa States.”