Attahiru Jega, INEC Chairman

By Hammed Shittu

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State has advised the Chairman,  Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, to allow the rule of law to take its course on the purported plan to  repeat the conduct of election into the state House of Assembly for Oloje and Alanumu Wards in Ilorin North-West constituency between it and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

Already, the PDP has filed an appeal on the matter at the Court of Appeal.

In a statement signed by the PDP state Chairman and Secretary, Hon. Isola Balogun-Fulani and Hon. Yemi Afolayan, respectively,  which was made available to journalists in Ilorin yesterday, the party said INEC decision to conduct the repeat election on June 30, this year  is unconstitutional and antithetical since the case is still before the court of law.

According to the statement, “the decision of INEC to fix the date of proposed repeat election for the two wards has presumably prejudged that the outcome of the proceeding of 25/06/2012 at the Court of Appeal must be against our party as to make the conduct of the repeat election feasible for 30/06/2012.
“This posture of INEC is antithetical, unwholesome and dangerous for our democracy and constitutes a flagrant disrespect to the process of the court. We pray the court would listen.”

The party said it applied for  leave to appeal to Supreme Court as well as an application for injunction against the respondents (of which INEC is the third respondent) and the two applications fixed for June 25, added that the electoral body should await the outcome of the decision of the Court of Appeal on the pending application before coming up on a date for repeat elections in the two wards.

The statement therefore said “We trust that INEC will reverse its decision on the scheduling of a repeat election and allow the court to perform its constitutional duty and not to over reach the court and abuse its process by constituting itself as a law unto itself”.