The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, on Friday, strongly warned the Independent National Electoral Commissioner, INEC, accusing it of being partisan.
The appellate court found it embarrassing that the Commission could openly favor a party in an election dispute by disowning documents that it not only issued but also duly certified.
It lamented that the electoral body persists in “dancing naked in the market,” despite its intended role of maintaining a neutral stance in election litigations.
“The INEC as an institution should be reminded of its role in an election; to be an unbiased umpire between parties.
“It should stop behaving irresponsibly, having in mind that its duty to conduct election has a direct bearing on peace and well-being of the country.
“The role of INEC in election dispute should be limited to the tendering of all the documents used in an election and explaining what they were used for and how they were obtained.
“INEC should stop dancing naked in the market, pretending that no one is seeing its nakedness and its dancing steps,” the court stated while delivering judgment in a Bauchi State House of Assembly election appeal.
The lead judgment of a three-member panel of the court was delivered by Justice K. I. Amadi.
In a unanimous decision, the panel nullified the election of Abubakar Suleiman, who was previously declared the winner of Ningi Central Constituency in the Bauchi State House of Assembly by INEC.
The court ruled that the evidence before it confirmed the inconclusive nature of the election.
In addition to annulling the Certificate of Return issued to Suleiman, who contested under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the appellate court directed INEC to conduct a supplementary poll in 10 polling units in the state, within 90 days.
The court further awarded a cost of N500,000 against INEC.
This judgment resulted from an appeal presented to the court by Khalid Abdulmalik-Ningi, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election.
INEC declared that Suleiman of the PDP secured a total of 16,866 votes, defeating his closest rival, Abdulmalik-Ningi of the APC, who garnered 15,065 votes in the election held on March 18.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the election results, the APC candidate filed a petition before the State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, alleging, among other things, that the election results were invalidated due to over-voting or corrupt practices.
Despite being a respondent in the matter, INEC denied the claim of over-voting. However, it failed to present any witness before the tribunal, leading to the eventual dismissal of the petition.
While faulting the decision of the tribunal, the appellate court noted that the Appellant brought nine witnesses who testified in respect of the various polling units and also tendered certified copies of INEC documents to support his case.
According to Section 137 of the Electoral Act 2022, the court maintained that the certified INEC documents were sufficient to uphold the allegation that the election was not conducted in compliance with the provisions of the law.
The court questioned INEC’s denial of result cancellations in certain polling units, especially when its officials had affirmed this in Forms EC 40G they signed and submitted.
The court affirmed that the tribunal had statutory authority to attribute probative value to the INEC documents, stating that these documents contained all the necessary information to substantiate the alleged noncompliance.
Kanyi Daily recalls that Following the 2023 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, NBA, and the Police are set to prosecute over 1,076 electoral offenders across 35 states.
