APC should substitute Audu for Kogi supplementary poll --- AGF
(Nigeria) The Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister for Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami, SAN, has said that for the
inconclusive Kogi State governorship election, the All Progressives Congress,
APC, will only need to substitute its candidate, Abubakar Audu, who died on
Sunday.
Malami, who spoke in Abuja at a seminar organised by the
Nigerian Law Reform Commission on the reform of the National Environmental
Standards and Regulation Enforcement Agency (Establishment) Act, said the
election has to be concluded.
Malami said the APC would have to substitute its candidate
for the purpose of the supplementary election.
He however, did not say that the party’s deputy governorship
candidate, James Abiodun Faleke, would automatically step in as the candidate.
He said: “The issue is very straightforward. Fundamentally, Section 33 of the Electoral Act is very clear that in case of death, the right for substitution by political a political party is sustained by the provisions of section 33 of the Electoral Act.
He said: “The issue is very straightforward. Fundamentally, Section 33 of the Electoral Act is very clear that in case of death, the right for substitution by political a political party is sustained by the provisions of section 33 of the Electoral Act.
“And if you have a community reading of that section with
Section 221 of the Constitution, which clearly indicates that the right to vote
is the right of a political party and and the party in this case, the APC has
participated in the conduct of the election.
“It is therefore apparent that the combination community
reading of the two provisions does not leave any room for conjecture. APC as a
party is entitled to substitution by the clear provisions of section 33 of the
Electoral Act.
“Also Section 221 of the Constitution is clear that the
votes that were cast were cast in favour of the APC. Arising from that
deductions, it does not require any legal interpretation. The interpretation is
clear: APC will substitute, which right has been sustained by Section 33 of the
Electoral Act. So be it. The supplementary election that has to be conducted
along the line.”
Asked if that substitution should automatically benefit
Faleke, Malami said: “It all depends on the appreciation of issues arising from
the primaries conducted before now.
“There was a first and a second candidate. That primaries
that had taken place over time had not by anyway been nullified. And it is
recognized by law. But then a further consideration would be the idea of
conducting another primary but that is not envisaged in view of the
sustainability of the first primaries.”
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