CLAIM: Senator Ishaku Abbo Claim of Election Annulment by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
VERDICT: False and Misleading
CONTEXT: Senator Ishaku Abbo, representing Adamawa North Senatorial District, has said the Electoral Act 2022 forbids the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from declaring the collated results in the Adamawa State governorship election null and void.
Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast show ‘Sunrise Daily’ on Monday 17th April 2023, he noted that the Electoral Body’s announcement was insignificant according to the provisions of the Electoral Act of 2022.
His words: “INEC cannot nullify an election that has been announced, they don’t have that power. Elections have been announced, it is out of their hands. The result has been announced by the REC. Section 65 does not operate in isolation, there is Section 149.”
On Sunday 16th April 2023, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa State announced Sen. Aishatu Dahiru Binani, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the state supplementary governorship election held on 15th April 2023 in a controversial manner as collation was still ongoing.
Her major challenger and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Umaru Fintiri, was maintaining a lead of over 30,000 votes before the election was declared inconclusive on March 18th, 2023.
The INEC headquarters in Abuja, however, nullified the announcement and transferred the collation to Abuja. Subsequently, on Monday 17th April 2023, the commission asked its REC, Hudu Yunusa, to stay away from its office in Adamawa state.
CDD fact checkers understands that INEC cannot take further disciplinary action on the Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) because he is an appointee of the president and only the president can terminate his appointment.
However, the commission has written to the Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman, to investigate and prosecute Mr. Hudu Yunusa. In another development, Sen. Binani has approached a federal high court in Abuja, seeking an injunction to halt INEC from concluding the collation process.
VERIFICATION: Checks by CDD fact checkers show that the Electoral Act 2022 in Section 65 clearly delegates such powers to the commission. The section of the Electoral Act states that the decision of the returning officer shall be final on any question arising from or relating to unmarked ballot paper; rejected ballot paper; and declaration of scores of candidates, or the return of a candidate:
It, however, added that “Provided that the commission shall have the power within seven days to review the declaration and return where the commission determines that the said declaration and return was not made voluntarily or was made contrary to the provisions of the law, regulations and guidelines, and manual for the election.
“A decision of the returning officer under subsection may be reviewed by an election tribunal or court of competent jurisdiction in an election petition proceeding under this Act.”
On Section 149 of the Electoral Act which the lawmaker made reference to, public affairs analysts and lawyers say the section makes reference to officers who are duly and legally assigned responsibilities by the commission and not officers carrying out duties not assigned to them, as in the case of the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Adamawa State.
Section 149 of the Electoral Act states that, “Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, any defect or error arising from any actions taken by an official of the commission in relation to any notice, form, or document made or given or other things done by the official in pursuance of the provisions of the Constitution or of this Act, or any rules made thereunder, remain valid, unless otherwise challenged and declared invalid by a competent court of law or tribunal,”
However, speaking on the issue, a public affairs analyst said: “The returning officer is the individual referenced in Section 149 of the Constitution whose pronouncement on election result will stand and not a Resident Electoral Commissioner who has no business in announcing and returning a candidate to office.”
The analyst added that “INEC appointed a returning officer for the Adamawa State governorship supplementary election who is expected to declare results and not the resident electoral commissioner who just committed an illegality by going ahead to announce results that were still being collated.”
Also speaking on the morning show on Arise Television on Tuesday, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Bolaji Ayorinde, said what the Resident Electoral Commissioner of Adamawa (REC), Hudu Yunusa, did is illegal and INEC did the right thing to declare it null and void.
He said, “Mr. Hudu usurped the powers of the returning officer by going ahead to declare elections, and Section 149 of the Electoral Act only made reference to returning officers and not resident electoral officers, as such, it was right for INEC to nullify the results.” He added that but for the fact that Nigeria’s laws are weak, “the REC in Adamawa ought to have been arrested and facing prosecution.
CONCLUSION: Going by the 2022 Electoral Act, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been empowered by the law to review declarations within seven days of the announcement, as such, the claim by the lawmaker is false. Also, the claim on the finality of results declared by an INEC official is misleading, as the INEC official referenced in the constitution is the returning officer and not the Resident Electoral Commissioner, as indicated by Sen. Ishaku Abbo.
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