By Tony Adibe
The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Enugu State, on Tuesday, asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to release without further delay results of the Saturday, March 18, Enugu State Governorship Poll.
The Chairman of IPAC in the state, Chief Edwin Alor, who addressed journalists in Enugu, said that INEC had no powers under the law to review collated results.
NewsBits recalls that INEC had on Monday, March 20, suspended indefinitely further collation of results in the two local government areas of the state – Nkanu East and Nsukka – concerning allegations of over voting and other electoral malpractices.
Alor advised the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Enugu State and the State Returning Officer to as a matter of urgency announce the result of the election without delay and declare the winner with immediate effect.
He said that any action short of the declaration will be outside the law and could bring anarchy to an already fragile situation.
“We note that the results of the 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs), including those of Nkanu East and Nsukka LGAs, were all collated by the Returning Officer on March 19, 2023.
“By the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, the only other duty remaining for the State Returning Officer, who is acting on INEC’s behalf, is to add up the figures, announce them, and declare the winner in line with Section 64 (8) of the Electoral Act 2022.
“We state that the cancellation of an already made return by a Returning Officer can only be made if the Returning Officer made the return under duress and such a complaint must come from the officer in question. These clearly do not apply to the Enugu situation.
“But the law in Section 130(1) of the Electoral Act is also mindful to make provisions for the adjudication of any complaint against a return made by the Returning Officer. Section 130(1) provides:
“No election and return at an election under this Act shall be questioned in any manner other than by a petition complaining of an undue election or undue return presented to the competent tribunal or court in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution or of this Act, and in which the person elected or returned is joined as a party,” Alor said.
The IPAC Chairman said that INEC collation centre is not an Election Tribunal or the law court where redress is sought, adding that the “INEC State Collation Center is to accept results as they come, collate and announce them, and ultimately declare the winner.”
“It is our strong view that the INEC Returning Officer has discharged his statutory responsibility by collating the results of all the 17 local government areas, including those of Nkanu East and Nsukka Local Government Areas,” according to him. Alor further explained that the remaining responsibility for the State Returning Officer is to announce results and declare the winner, stressing that “INEC cannot be a judge in its own case, if any.”
He added: “We call on INEC’s attention to the case of the Presidential and National Assembly elections where its Chairman, Prof Yakubu Mahmood, stood his ground, completed the collation process, and announced the result despite all protest.
“Equally, the elections in Ebonyi, Rivers and Lagos States, which were fraught with violence, ballot box snatching, over-voting and all sorts of complaints were declared despite these shortcomings.
“So, we see no good reason why the announcement of the final results and declaration of the winner in the Enugu State Governorship Election, which is adjudged comparatively free, fair and credible should be placed on hold.
“This is for the mere desperation of a few individuals and at the expense of the masses that freely exercised their franchise and made a statement through their ballots.”
