A Lagos-based lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has headed for a Federal High Court in Lagos to challenge the directive of the Attorney General of the Federation, Mallam Abubakar Malami (SAN), that the All Progressives Congress should substitute its deceased governorship candidate in Kogi State, Abubakar Audu, with another candidate.
The APC candidate, Audu’s death had been announced shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared the November 21, 2015 governorship election in Kogi State inconclusive.
The AGF, Malami, had suggested that in the face of no express provision by either the Constitution or the Electoral Act, the APC should substitute the late Audu with another candidate to conclude the election.
But in a suit which he filed on Thursday, Agbegboruwa is contending that Malami’s suggestion ran afoul of Section 181(2) of the 1999 Constitution.
Adegboruwa said, “Whatever makes it impossible for the winner of an election to take benefit of his mandate, whether by reason of death, illness or otherwise, the constitutional dictate is to conduct fresh elections.”
The lawyer argued that the Constitution did not recognise any arrangement whereby votes will be preserved in the memory of a dead candidate for the purpose of transferring same to another candidate who was not a part of the previous election that had been declared inconclusive.
Apart from the AGF, also joined as respondents in the suit are INEC, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and the late Audu’s party, APC.
Adegboruwa wants the court to determine whether by virtue of Section 179(2) of the 1999 Constitution, the late Audu had been duly elected to warrant the proposal by the APC to substitute him with another candidate for the purpose of a supplementary election.
He also wants the court to decide, whether the APC had an exclusive right to the joint ticket on which the late Audu contested to entitle the party to nominate another candidate to conclude the said election.
He is also seeking a declaration that “under and by virtue of sections 33, 36 of the Electoral Act (as amended) and section 181(2) of the 1999 Constitution, the death of a nominated candidate for an election that has been declared to be inconclusive, before the declaration of the winner of the said election, INEC is not entitled to continue with the said election but to order a fresh election.”
He is seeking an order of the court for INEC to cancel the November 21, 2015 governorship election in Kogi State and to conduct a fresh one.
The case has yet to be assigned to any judge and no hearing date has been fixed.
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