Zamfara polls: Outrage trails Malami’s letter to INEC

…AGF clarifies statement as PDP, Agbakoba, Ozekhome, others kick

….Comply with Court of Appeal ruling, APC tells INEC

Andrew Orolua, Babatunde Opalana, Tom Okpe, Abuja and Peter Fowoyo, Lagos

Outrage on Thursday followed the letter written by the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), on Wednesday, to the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) requesting it to postpone the general election in Zamfara State. So intense was the condemnation of Malami’s letter by some political parties, groups and individuals, that the AGF on Thursday through his media aide issued a clarification denying the earlier report. Malami categorically denied reports that he requested the Independent National Electoral Commission to postpone elections in Zamfara State. He said that his attention was drawn to a recent publication by certain social media and conventional news outlets stating that his office had purportedly requested the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the elections in Zamfara State. “The office of the Attorney General of the Federation wishes to emphatically reiterate that this report is false and misleading, a statement by the Minister’s aide said. The statement titled, “AGF letter to INEC dated February, 13, 2019: A clarification”, reads: “The attention of the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has been drawn to a recent publication by certain social media and conventional news outlets stating that this Office had purportedly requested the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the elections in Zamfara State. The Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation wishes to emphatically reiterate that this report is false and misleading. “In our letter dated 13th February 2019 addressed to the INEC Chairman, the AGF in reacting to a petition from M.A Mahmud informing this Office of the subsisting Court of Appeal decision in CA/S/22/2019 which effectively upheld the APC primaries in Zamfara state, wrote to INEC informing them of this development and requested the Commission to comply by extending the time within which the political party may field its candidate in the Gubernatorial election”. Malami pointed out that the constraining circumstances that led to the delay in fielding a candidate were caused by INEC’s refusal to comply with the Zamfara State High Court Judgment which upheld the said APC primaries. He said INEC had relied on a Federal High Court Judgement which nullified the primaries, whereas the Court of Appeal decision in reference has now effectively overturned this decision and upheld the said APC primaries. Buttressing his position, the AGF made reference to the provisions of sections 38 and 39 of the Electoral Act, 2010, which allows INEC the latitude and discretion to extend the time within which a political party may duly field a candidate for an election where unforeseen circumstances constrained such a party from doing so within the stipulated time frame. “It is therefore our position that shutting a candidate out of the elections despite a subsisting Court of Appeal decision mandating otherwise would lead to a miscarriage of justice and certainly not in the interest of giving all parties in Zamfara State a level playing field. Our letter to INEC is therefore in line with the subsisting Court of Appeal decision as well as Sections 38 and 39 of the Electoral Act, 2010. “It is at this point mandatory to reiterate that the issue for contention by the parties before the trial and appellate court were in no way and by no stretch of imagination extend to the presidential election which at any rate was not an issue contemplated for determination by the trial and appellate court. “It is therefore obvious that what the insinuations in the social media and some conventional news outlets set out to achieve on the strength of this issue is to confuse the electorate and Nigerians at large and/or to portray the ruling government as insensitive to the electoral process”, he said. He urged the public to note that his office would not in any way interfere with INEC’s mandate to conduct free and fair elections and is fully in support of ensuring that justice is done to all the parties in this circumstance. Reacting, former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, on Thursday, chided the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, SAN, over the latter’s letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) asking for postponement of Zamfara State elections. Agbakoba expressed shock at the AGF letter, stating that if there is need for postponement of elections in Zamfara State, it is the All Progressives Congress (APC) that should call for it. The letter dated February 14, 2019 and addressed to the AGF titled: Request for Postponement of Zamfara State Elections, enjoined him to withdraw the letter forthwith. The letter reads: “I am shocked by your letter to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the above subject. You are the Attorney General of the Federation and not the Attorney General of INEC. INEC is an independent institution and cannot take directives from the Federal Government. “If there is need for the postponement of the Zamfara State elections as indicated in your letter, the proper person to request the postponement is the All Progressives Congress (APC). In any case, Sections 38 and 39 of the Electoral Act 2010 which your request is based on have nothing to do with postponement of elections. “President Muhammadu Buhari has at various fora had undertaken that the Federal Government will not interfere with INEC. Your letter puts that commitment to question. “It is my hope that this letter will be immediately withdrawn.” Agbakoba also wrote INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, asking him to disregard Malami’s letter. “INEC is an independent institution and should not take directives from the Attorney General of the Federation or the Federal Government. “If there is need for the postponement of the Zamfara State elections, the proper person to request the postponement is the All the Progressive Congress (APC). “In any case, Sections 38 and 39 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) which the Attorney General’s request is based on have nothing to do with postponement of elections. “INEC should disregard the Attorney General’s letter,” Agbakoba added. Also, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ozekhome, berated the Attorney General of Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), over his purported letter requesting INEC to postpone the National Assembly, governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections in Zamfara State. Ozekhome in a chart with journalists on Thursday in Abuja, felt saddened that the AGF could take a decision to jeopardise the interest of over 70 other political parties in Zamfara State because his party, APC, has no candidate in the elections. Ozekhome, however, asked INEC not to be intimidated but remain resolute in his stand to exclude APC’s candidate in Zamfara State on account that the party did not hold any primary election. According to Ozekhome, who is counsel to a faction of APC in the ongoing court case, both Malami and Magaji want to obtain what they could not get from the front door, through the back door. In a letter dated February 14, 2019, titled, “Re: 1. Suit No.: ZMS/GS/52/2018: Sanusi Liman Dan Alhaji and 37 ORS 2. Suit No.: FHC/ ABJ/CS/1279/2018: APC V. INEC and 5 ORS 3. Appeal No.: CA/S/23/2019: Hon Aminu Sani Jaji V. Sanusi Liman Dan Alhaji and 81 ORS 4. Appeal No.: A/A/95/2019: Alhaji Lawal M. Liman V. APC. Brazen attempt to mislead INEC as regards the import of the ruling delivered by the Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division on 13th February, 2019”, Ozekhome asked the AGF not to intimidate INEC into changing its stand in the Zamfara APC matter. Ozekhome, who is counsel to Senator Kabiru Marafa and 181 others who were respondents in Appeal NO. CA/S/23/2019, which was heard on February 13, 2019, said the sole issue for determination was whether Jaji (Appellant) who had filed a notice of discontinuance, under Order 11 Rules 1 and 5 could legally withdraw and discontinue the appeal. He said, if so, whether Sanusi Alhaji, Mukhtar Idris, Gov Abdulaziz Abubakar and 35 others could still sustain their motion filed on the 8th February, 2019, which had been solely predicated on the existence of Appeal No. CA/3/23/2019. The said motion filed on behalf of the said respondents/applicants by Mahmud Magaji was seeking, among other reliefs, an order of the Court of Appeal to grant order in the interim (before the determination of the substance of the main appeal), directing INEC to allow APC field candidates in the forthcoming elections in Zamfara State. He told the AGF that the Court of Appeal held that the appeal, having been withdrawn, was accordingly dismissed and that the Court said, the motion filed by Yari, Sanusi Liman Alhaji, Mukhtar Shehu Idris and others could not be argued as it had been overtaken by events by the discontinuance and dismissal of the appeal on which it was hinged. “Sir, you would see that there was total misrepresentation and suppression of material facts by the contents of a petition written by M. A. Magaji (SAN) and Co, falsely alleging that the Court of Appeal has upheld the appeal No. CA/S/23/2019. Ozekhome, who described the position of Magaji as false, said the appeal was never upheld and briefs had not been filled at all. “Rather, the appeal was voluntarily withdrawn and discontinued by the Appellant and was accordingly dismissed”, he added that dismissed with the appeal, was Magaji’s motion, asking the Appeal Court to temporarily validate the APC Zamfara primaries and allow his clients to contest the elections”. Ozekhome however disclosed that there is still pending appeal against the said Zamfara High Court judgment by Senator Kabiru Marafa for stay of execution, which, ruling was slated for February 15. He said the appeals emanating from the judgment of Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which was in favour of his clients (to the effect that that no valid primaries had been held such as to produce the defendants candidates) are still subsisting and pending. According to the SAN, the provisions of Section 38 and 39 of the Electoral Act are no longer of any moment since the potential candidates for nomination have resorted to court to ventilate their grievances with respect to the nomination of candidates for the election, in compliance with Section 87 of the Electoral Act. He therefore called on the AGF to refuse to be misled by Magaji’s petition, which he said is clearly meant to circumvent the due process of the law as regards all matters between the parties pending at various Appellant courts in Abuja and Sokoto Court of Appeal divisions. Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, has slammed the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), for acting unconstitutionally by directing the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone National Assembly and State governorship elections because of the legal debacle over fielding of candidates in the two elections by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State. Secondus said Malami’s letter was politically motivated and a premeditated move by the APC to forcefully put the APC on the ballot in Zamfara against INEC proclamation that the APC cannot field candidates for those positions. Addressing a national press conference in Abuja on Thursday, Secondus said the AGF’s letter is part of APC’s design to arm-twist INEC and judiciary to take illegal action in their favour. He added that what the AGF is seeking is not backed by law. Malami, according to Secondus, is an interested party on this matter and has no moral right to advice INEC. He said “the inability of the APC to field candidates due to self-inflicted crisis when other parties did within the stipulated period for the election is not covered by section 38 & 39 of the electoral Act 2010 which the AGF is relying on his dubious advice”. He, therefore, called on INEC to follow the dictates of the law and continue in its plan to achieve a credible election. However, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to add its candidates in Zamfara State for the 2019 general election commencing from tomorrow, February 18, to comply with the judgement of the Sokoto Court of Appeal. The court had on Wednesday, dismissed an appeal against the judgement of the High Court of Zamfara State ordering the commission to accept the list of candidates presented to it by the party. Babatunde Ogala, National Legal Adviser of the party told journalists after a meeting between the Deputy National Chairman, South, Otumba Niyi Adebayo the Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari and his Ekiti State counterpart, Kayode Fayemi, that if INEC was right in obeying only the pronouncement of the Federal High Court in Abuja which made no order, there is a judgement of a superior court which the commission must obey. He said: “We all know the tragedy of the Zamfara matter where despite having a positive order of court asking INEC to accept the list of our candidates from a properly held, conducted, supervised and observed primary by INEC, it still said in its opinion that there was a conflicting order of court of coordinate jurisdiction which refused to accept our candidates. “Let us assume, though not conceding that INEC was right in saying it had two conflicting orders of court of coordinate jurisdiction and choose to accept the one that made no order as against the one that had a positive order, now we have a judgement of a higher court which has now affirmed the decision of the Zamfara State High Court compelling INEC to accept our list of candidates and we are hopeful that INEC will comply with the order of court and have our candidates on the ballot. “Let me emphasis that the court in Abuja did not make any order. The only order was from the High Court in Zamfara. Some people in their wisdom, appealed the decision of the High Court in Gusau. That is the matter that now went on appeal and the Court of Appeal in Sokoto has now dismissed the appeal and affirmed the decision of the Zamfara State High Court which upheld that the APC had a legitimate primary and that INEC should accept the list of our candidates”. When asked if the party intends to meet with INEC on this new development, he said: “There is nothing like having to meet with INEC. What we owe who were a respondent in the matter is to forward a copy of the judgement of the Court of Appeal to INEC even though they are already aware, so that they will reflect the names of our already submitted candidates on the ballot for the elections”. In his reaction, the Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari, said the people of the state were grateful to God for the judgement, pointing that INEC should follow the part of honour and obey the judgement of the Court of Appeal. “I give thanks to God in whose infinite mercies, this judgement came up. If the judgement had been to the contrary, it would have been different. But the Court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the judgement of the High Court. You know what that means. We are happy with the outcome and we are here to work with the party to convey the enrollment order to INEC and to ensure that they comply with the order”, he stated.