Only ignorant are calling for non-inauguration of new government–INEC REC, Agboke
… Keeps mum on Kano High Court ruling on LP candidates, says moral rectitude needed for democracy to grow in country
By Stephen Gbadamosi
A Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Dr. Mutiu Agboke, has described those calling for non-inauguration of the president-elect on May 29 as people displaying ignorance of the law of the country, both regarding to the constitution and the Electoral Act (as amended).
Agboke, a lawyer, REC of Osun State and former REC of Oyo State, who featured on a private radio, Fresh FM, programme in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Sunday, gave legal insights to the arguments. The programme was monitored by our correspondent.
Mr. Agboke was invited to shed light on some of the controversial issues bordering on the res of Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) and the call by some Nigerians not to inaugurate the president-elect pending the conclusion of the cases in court over the February 25th presidential election.
“It is within 180 days or thereabout at the first court. There is also an amount of days available to the loser at that level would wait before being able to go to a higher court. For us to learn, most people don’t know that the same Court of Appeal that would sit on Federal High Court cases is the one empowered by law to become the election petition tribunal for presidential election.
“As of the time it sits like that, it seats as a court of first instance, meaning that it is not seating as an Appeal Court; it sits as an election tribunal. And once you lose at that level, the next place for you is the higher court. With all these I have said; they would spend so and so day here and there; both our constitution and the Electoral Act have not said the declared winner of the election should not be sworn in.
“It is not in any law; whoever has such information should quote it for us all to hear. That’s one. The second is that when INEC has concluded election and certificates of return have been issued to those deemed winners, the election matter, as concerned INEC, is concluded.
“The next port of call is preparation for whoever wins an election, be it House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, governor and deputy governor, president and vice president. That is the provision of the law.
“So, on the coming inauguration, we have gone past the level of those arguments. That is the way it is,” Agboke maintained.
Answering questions on the issue of a recent Kano Federal High Court nullifying the elections of Labour Party (LP) candidates in the state including that of governor-elect of Abia State, Mr. Alex Otti, the lawyer said there was nothing more to say on the matter, judging by the fact that all Nigerians were already waiting for the next mover on the matter.
“We heard that judgment last week; by next, we will all see the direction the matter will go. There is nothing to shed light on over that matter,” he said.
The INEC top official added that Nigerian politicians needed to think of morality, rather than just the law, to curb the menace of all elections ending in court rooms, adding that people should recognize they lose election when they so do.
“The first thing we must realise is that the right to approach the court is a constitutional sacrosanct. There is nothing stopping anyone on that. That’s in Section 6(6) of the 1999 Constitution. Every Nigerian has the right to approach the court and seek redress and
courts include tribunals.
“But on the matter of election, it is in a class of its own. In law, we say election petition is sui generis, meaning that all those technicalities that apply to other cases like civil cases would apply.
“The Electoral Act has spelt out people that have the right to approach court. Now, it is not every Tom, Dick and Harry that should go to tribunal. Let us know that it is not law that will necessarily solve that problem. It is a moral thing. What is mean by moral thing is that when we voted and you saw where the election was going, even if you are physically impaired, you would know naturally that you are losing or you have lost.
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“Our politicians don’t think like that; they want to test strength, whether or not they can get relevance through the backdoor. That is what I think the opinion moulders should make their advocacy for our electoral system to grow. Let us behave like the developed democracies; as the counting is going on, they mostly accept their fate,” Agboke said.
He added that one major problem with the last general elections was the negative narratives that some politicians were bandying about which some gullible Nigerians accepted as the truth, advising that Nigerians should always find out the roots of what they heard.
