Uduaghan: Falana expresses suprise over court’s failure to invoke section 149 of Electoral Act


Nov 12, 2010
By Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa — Lagos Lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, yesterday, expressed dismay over the failure of the court to invoke section 149 of the 2006 Electoral Act on persons found wanting in the conduct of elections in the country.
The human rights lawyer in an interview in Yenagoa against the backdrop of the nullification of the election of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan said the invocation of section 149 of the Electoral Act would have helped check the pervasive electoral fraud in the land.
Specifically, he noted with dismay the position of the Court of Appeal for allowing the sacked governor to take part in the fresh polls to be conducted in the next 90 days.
Falana also urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and other concerned citizens of Delta State to head back to the Court of Appeal asking for variation of the order of the court on account of the cost implication on the state in conducting two elections in less than two months.
Citing Section 149 of 2006 of Electoral Act which allows the judiciary or the tribunal to recommend the prosecution of those found wanting in the conduct of the election, he lamented that no court in the country has invoked this all important provision to serve as deterrent to others.
Lamenting the reluctance of the court to invoke the relevant section to punish offenders he said, “Dr. Uduaghan and their collaborators have been allowed to go scot-free. In fact to worsen matters, to complicate illegality, the court has curiously allowed him to take part in another election. What lesson are we teaching?
That it pays to be fraudulent?
“If the argument of the proponent of tenure elongation is to be followed, it then means that if Dr. Uduaghan wins re-run election, he will spend seven and half years in office that could never have been the position of the law.
“The law does not reward fraud or immorality or illegality. As a matter of fact, the law punishes criminality or illegality. Unfortunately, this time around, the law has been silent in that area.”
He said since general election would be held nationwide in 2011, it would have been proper for the court to extend the tenure of the Acting Governor till April next year.
Said he: “Another problem I have with the ruling is that, it is going to be wasteful and too costly to run two governorship elections between now and April next year in that state because if Dr. Uduaghan wins again, his tenure will end in May 2011.”
“In other words, there have to be fresh election in that state next year, like other parts of the country. For this reason one will like to advise INEC and other concerned people in Delta State to head back to the Court of Appeal to ask for variation of the court order, so that the tenure of the Acting Governor, the Speaker can be extended to April to allow one election.”


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/11/uduaghan-falana-expresses-suprise-over-courts-failure-to-invoke-section-149-of-electoral-act/

It seems some individuals are more smarter than our constitution.

This is exactly what I want to hear, and we must push for this. Uduaghan must not be allowed to contest at the next elections, infact I would have expected that the Federal Government would immediately ask the Federal Audit commission to review the states financial affairs with the EFCC aiding were necessary.

Uduaghan does not have an admirable record in any stage of his being involved in Delta politics, he has been named in a High profile case in the UK involving fraud, as well as being disqualified for what amounts to electorial malpractice /fraud. The federal government really need to show the citizens of the country that they are prepared to tackle such serious issues and the causes of such serious issues. This is a very good opportunity for the GEJ administration to gain back some credibility, and I am praying that the good people of Delta will fight a good fight.

Nigeria law is a sham !

monkeyleg:

This is exactly what I want to hear, and we must push for this. Uduaghan must not be allowed to contest at the next elections, infact I would have expected that the Federal Government would immediately ask the Federal Audit commission to review the states financial affairs with the EFCC aiding were necessary.

Uduaghan does not have an admirable record in any stage of his being involved in Delta politics, he has been named in a High profile case in the UK involving fraud, as well as being disqualified for what amounts to electorial malpractice /fraud. The federal government really need to show the citizens of the country that they are prepared to tackle such serious issues and the causes of such serious issues. This is a very good opportunity for the GEJ administration to gain back some credibility, and I am praying that the good people of Delta will fight a good fight.

As the situation stands right now, he is more than free to contest since there's no body set up to tackle such electoral illegalities.

This is one of the reasons why the Uwais panel was constituted so as to put in measures to punish electoral offenders. Unfortunately, those recommendations never saw the light of day.

Now, election riggers who are caught(like the case of Delta state) get the impression that they only need to be more smart next time.

This is an opportunity to stay close to the prophet and also to invest, buy into Garden of Eden Estate, Simawa behind Redemption Camp at a very cheap price of N380,000.00 per plot go here for picture: https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-521891.0.html

Well if that is the case, we all know what to expect come 2011

What really puzzles me most times about the PDP is what it really stands for as a political organisation.

No group of persons can come together, without rules and ethics, and yet have the effrontery to tag themselves as an organisation. Does the supposed PDP constitution that became the 'national anthem' a couple of months ago(no thanks to the trickery called zoning) not have penal codes that deals with misconduct on the part of it's members?

In a more disciplined political party, Uduaghan should have been sanctioned and replaced immediately with the party's aspirant that directly trailed Uduaghan in the primary elections.

Unfortunately, we are likely to have our hopes dashed if we expect anything credible from the PDP in the 2011 elections.