Opinion: governorship Petition: Like Osun, Like Adamawa.
Opinion: governorship Petition: Like Osun, Like Adamawa.
Each political cycle brings up important challenges that Nigerian politicians attempt or fail to address. The recent general elections in 2023 did not stray from this pattern.
The most recent Supreme Court judgement on Osun State’s election petition has delivered bitter pills for petitioners to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
According to the Supreme Court decision, a petitioner cannot depend on INEC records to suggest overvoting but must instead provide each BVAS as sufficient evidence of overvoting.
In Adamawa, the APC claims to have won the poll on the first ballot after Hudu Yunusa declared Binani of the APC the winner but collation was halted until the following morning. Hudu has yet to locate the provision in the electoral laws that authorises him to return a candidate.
According to information obtained, the APC and its governorship candidate have filed a petition with the governorship election petition tribunal, claiming victory in the governorship elections as well as over voting.
If one may enquire, the APC supporters’ social media results come from what source, the BVAS? The APC and its followers should be aware that it was used for accountability purposes, but that determining which party received what is impossible. If they return to the IREV, the results presented on the portal clearly show that Governor Fintiri won the election.
Even if over voting is proven today, which I doubt, Fintiri still wins. Consider former information commissioner Ahmad Sajoh asserting that the PDP and the governor are evading service on a dead on arrival case, with the APC’s hearsay petition before the tribunal.
Even a non-lawyer will declare that Fintiri won the election if the tribunal requested evidence from around four thousand polling locations in Adamawa that are still listed on the IREV portal.
In more civilised civilizations, an election is a social activity in which people freely exercise their franchise in selecting somebody to represent or lead them. It is categorically not warfare. Unfortunately, self-interest and obtaining the perks of public service have trumped the noble goal of serving the people.
These have eventually led to desperate actions by Nigerian politicians, such as hiring goons, forcing election authorities to reveal results early, or manipulating votes in local councils to conceal the evident winner’s margin of victory. These politicians gain control of public institutions in order to win elections.
Fufore is clearly an example of vote inflation rather than overvoting, as the APC has yet to name a local government or ward where overvoting happened.
As a result, I’m indicating that the opposition’s overvoting tactics are made up.
I challenge any APC member, including former Information Commissioner Ahmad Sajoh, to name any polling unit, ward, or local government where overvoting happened and was not dealt with quickly in accordance with electoral law.
The APC in Adamawa should understand that it is easier for a donkey to pass through the eyes of a needle than any hope for a loser in court.