Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
A former Edo State Governor, Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor, has kicked against what he termed the court’s usurpation of the sole powers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare winners in electoral contests in the country.
In a memorandum he forwarded to the committee currently collating views on the review of the 1999 constitution, Osunbor argued that the law could not have envisaged that INEC will share its powers with any other authority or organ of government.
Osunbor, a professor of law, described it as a serious aberration, for the commission to conduct an election and declare a winner and for other persons who took no part in the conduct of the election to declare a different person as winner.
He maintained that the courts’ decisions have rendered the word “independent” in the name of the commission worthless and meaningless, noting that it is inherently wrong.
According to him, this has given rise to the emergence of elected officials who were rejected at the polls by the voters, but emerged through the courts as winners in total disregard for the will of the majority of the people that heeded the call to perform their civic duty.
“The essence of democracy is thus defeated. Elections to that extent, have ceased to reflect the will of the people but the will of the judges sometimes by a split decision of 2:1, 3:2, etc., as the case may be.
“Elections should be won at the polls, not in a court of law. They should be a reflection of the will of the voters, not the brilliance of election petition lawyers or the will of courts of law or other extraneous considerations. Every vote must count because this goes to the very foundation of democracy.”
Osunbor observed that former President Goodluck Jonathan and Mr Adams Oshiomhole, who were beneficiaries of court-ordered electoral victory, had recently spoken against the usurpation of the constitutional rights of voters to elect their leaders through the ballot.
He further listed Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), a member of the team of lawyers that secured electoral victory in the court for Oshiomhole in 2008 as having echoed his opposition to the hijacking of the powers of INEC by the judiciary.
Osunbor contended that if the court “finds that there has been a serious infraction or violation of the law, which amounts to substantial irregularity or substantial non-compliance in the election, the tribunal or court could and should nullify the election and order a rerun.
“Anything beyond that, puts the judiciary and its impartiality in a dangerous situation where its integrity can be called to question as we have seen in recent times,” he averred.
He noted that amending the law to rectify the anomaly will help to preserve the integrity of the judiciary, preserve democracy, reduce voters’ apathy, reduce the spate of litigation, including frivolous ones by fortune-hunting litigants.
While urging the lawmakers to consider the proposal as essential to electoral reform and consolidation of democracy, Osunbor lauded the National Assembly for taking the step to secure the independence of INEC from the executive arm by ensuring its financial autonomy.
He called for a new insertion, wherein if elections to any particular office are repeatedly nullified by the tribunal or courts due to flagrant violations of the law, substantial irregularities or substantial non-compliance, the INEC officer responsible may be removed from office for gross misconduct by a motion supported by not less than two-thirds majority of all members of the senate.
