You can’t punish 165,000 voters for error of electoral officers, Falana reacts to Appeal Court judgment on Kano

*Wants Appeal Court judgments on both Kano, Plateau reviewed

*Says election matters should be concluded before inauguration

By KEMI KASUMU

“It is different from Kano, where you are being told that voters can be punished. It is a very dangerous judicial policy to sanction voters for the mistake of electoral officers. We are being told that 165,000 votes are wasted; they are invalid because some electoral officers committed an error by not stamping them.”

Human rights lawyer and former Chairman of ECOWAS Bar Association, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), reacted to the waves of controversial judiciary’s approaches to the March 18, 2023 governorship elections in the country especially as regards judgments of the Court of Appeal on Kano and Plateau states.

Falana, while speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics Sunday night, said the judgments of the appellate court sacking Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State and Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State should be reviewed.

According to him, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed in its duty to conduct proper elections in the country.

He said the votes of Nigerians should not be nullified by the courts because of the supposed negligence of the electoral umpire that should not have cleared candidates put forward by political parties outside of the primary elections arrangement.

He also said thousands of votes should not be invalidated by the court because INEC officials failed to stamp ballot sheets.

Falana noted that, for the aforementioned reasons among others, election matters should always be concluded before inauguration of any administration, a position senior lawyers including Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) had head before the Bola Ahmed Tinubu was eventually inaugurated on May 29 this year but to which attention was not paid.

It will be recalled that the Court of Appeal has sacked, now, three governors of Northern Nigeria who won election on the platforms of opposition parties and were so declared by INEC as winners in the March 18, 2023 elections including the Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Dauda Lawal.

The court sacked Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and declared All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Yusuf Nasiru Gawuna, as winner of the poll.

In Zamfara, the appellate court sacked Governor Dauda Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), when it declared the poll inconclusive after six months afterward of its being conducted.

The court ordered INEC to conduct a fresh election in three Local Government Areas of the state. PDP’s Lawal and APC’s Mohammed Bello Matawalle, who is currently the Minister of Defence in the Bola Ahmed Tinubu cabinet, are the major contenders in the race.

On Sunday, the appellate court sacked PDP’s Mutfwang and ordered INEC to issue a Certificate of Return to APC’s Nentawe Goshwe.

The court held that the party violated the court order that a valid congress be conducted in the 17 Local Government Areas of that state, a problem Mr. Femi Falana flared over saying voters of those Local Government Areas should not be punished for the error committed by electoral officers or body, which failed to obey court orders but, in cahoots with some politicians in power, went ahead with elections against instructions of court.

However, the appellate court affirmed the election of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC in Lagos State.

But, speaking on the judgments of the appellate court, Falana said INEC failed to perform due diligence before and during the elections.

He said all those dissatisfied with the appeal court verdicts can go to the Supreme Court.

According to Falana, “If you look at what happened in Lagos, it is different from what happened in Plateau.

“You are being told in Plateau that there was a judgment of the high court to the effect that primaries have to be conducted. The judgment, as usual, was dishonoured and disobeyed and the election went on.”

He said the political class must learn to comply with the decisions of the court.

“It is different from Kano, where you are being told that voters can be punished. It is a very dangerous judicial policy to sanction voters for the mistake of electoral officers.

“We are being told that 165,000 votes are wasted; they are invalid because some electoral officers committed an error by not stamping them.”

On how that affects the validity of the election, Falana said: “I do hope that this time around the Supreme Court will resolve these needless controversies surrounding the non-stamping of ballot papers by INEC officials, who have not been recommended for any sanction.

“This is why these judgments will have to be reviewed.”