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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / No Constitutional Provision For Audu's Death- Lawyers (709 Views)
INEC Knew Of Audu’s Death Before Announcing Results / No Constitutional Provision For Audu’s Death – Lawyers / Olufemi Olu-kayode Confirms Audu's Death (2) (3) (4)
No Constitutional Provision For Audu's Death- Lawyers by Bekwarra(m): 11:44pm On Nov 22, 2015 |
Following the news of the demise of the All
Progressive Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate,
Audu Abubakar in Kogi state on Sunday, lawyers
across the country has stated that there is a lacuna
as the constitution did not make provisions for such
an occurrence
According to them, there is an obvious oversight and
grave omission of such circumstances in the Nigerian
constitution and to move forward, the doctrine of
necessity may have to come in.
The former Chairman of the Nigerian Bar
Association, Ikeja chapter, Onyekachi Monday Ubani
told Nigerian Tribune that the matter is a serious one
considering that there are no constitutional
provisions for such matters
“This is a serious one that the constitution did not
envisage. There are no precedents to such an
occurrence and if we talk about the party choosing
another candidate, we also have to consider that the
period for selection of candidate has elapsed; there
is a time limit for such things. But I think that in this
case, the deputy will have to go for a fresh election
“If we go by the Supreme Court’s ruling on Rotimi
Amaechi’s case where it was held that the party and
not the candidate is the beneficiary of elections. So I
believe the deputy will have to go for elections and if
he wins, he will now choose a deputy.
“This is a serious omission and the law needs to be
amended quickly,” Ubani concluded
Another human rights lawyer, Ikechukwu Ikeji Esq.
also aligned with this. According to him, there are no
known provisions for this scenario. “There are no laid
down rules or provisions for this, the constitution
never imagined such an occurrence, the only similar
provision to this is Section 36 of the Electoral Act
which indicates that if a candidate dies before the
polls, INEC should cancel and postpone the election
for 14 days.
“But now that the election is already underway, the
situation is different. In my secular view except
further research contradicts what I have said, there
should be a fresh election with the deputy or they
should go to the Supreme Court for interpretation.”
Also speaking, Barrister Olusayo Adeleye stated that
there are no provisions for such and consequently,
there will have to be a fresh election with Honorable
James Abiodun Faleke, the deputy stepping in as the
gubernatorial candidate
Barrister Kayode Ajayi also stated that since there
are no provisions in the constitution, the APC will
have to look for another candidate. The doctrine of
necessity comes in since the vacuum needs to be
filled. The law didn’t envisage this but there must be a
way out. Remember when Atiku Abubakar as
governor was chosen to be the Vice President, his
deputy, Bonny Haruna stood in as the Governor and
selected another deputy.
Barrister Taoheed Asudemade was also of the same
opinion. He stated that since there are no provisions,
the APC will have to look for another candidate while
INEC will conduct another election. His death has
nullified the one that is on-going. tribuneonlineng.com/no-constitutional-provision-for-audus-death--lawyers |
Re: No Constitutional Provision For Audu's Death- Lawyers by FirstCounsel(m): 12:29am On Nov 23, 2015 |
Well we learn every day in this profession of ours. The Constitution and Electoral Act cannot envisage every scenario. Lets see how the situation pans out in the next couple of days/weeks |
Re: No Constitutional Provision For Audu's Death- Lawyers by Bekwarra(m): 12:39am On Nov 23, 2015 |
FirstCounsel:And I don't think there is anything like judicial precedent. I'll leave it in the hands of the bench and INEC. |
Re: No Constitutional Provision For Audu's Death- Lawyers by FirstCounsel(m): 10:01am On Nov 23, 2015 |
Bekwarra:Exactly sir |
(1) (Reply)
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