Olanipekun: Powers Arrogated to INEC Chairman in Section 65 of Electoral Act Dangerous

Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti

Legal luminary, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), has kicked against Section 65 of the Electoral Act, saying it is a very dangerous act in our electoral system, which empowers the Chief Returning Officer of INEC to return and also review his decision.

Olanipekun said: “To me, it’s a very dangerous section, so novel in the sense that here, you have a section that empowers a returning officer after returning to review his decision within a period of seven days.”

According to the legal giant, “The returning officer is not a court of law,  not a tribunal, not vested with jurisdiction to exercise quasi- decision or to assume jurisdiction over any matter that is judicial in nature.”

Olanipekun made the remarks yesterday

when he paid a private visit to the Ondo State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, in his office in Ado-Ekiti yesterday.

According to the former NBA president, “In that section of the electoral act  you are giving a returning officer and by extension INEC the power  to do and undo.”

He pointed out that he is not aware of any similar section in any similar section in  previous electoral act, or  any similar section in any of the electoral act of any country in the world.

He said: “When you now invest in a returning officer of INEC, the power to do and undo, the power to return and review his decision is dangerous to the polity.

“The Chief Returning Officer is the chairman of INEC, meaning you can return someone as president today, and tomorrow, when there are  agitations here and there, he may  withdraw his  decision, saying: “I am revising myself and I am now returning somebody else.”

Olanipekun said he was so surprised that the National Assembly  have  to allow that section to crept into the electoral act which they submitted to the president for signing.

 He urged  the  National Assembly members that they  can still remove that

Provison, and called on all  stakeholders, particularly the political parties to “shine their eyes”, to monitor INEC, the returning officers, so that nothing untoward happens to any party, any candidate returned to be unreturned again.