₦airaland Forum

chukwudi44:
Lolz ignorance on display!!! No matter what the appeal court rules,no action will be taken until the appeal and supreme courts affirms the judgement.

So unless the appeal court affirms the CCT ruling,whatever they have been doing would just ne sheer waste of time.

NgeneUkwenu:
Hi Nwa nkapi! Please we are discussing state matters here.. can you kindly go back to the Biafran thread?

Says five national commissioners required to form quorum
Gboyega Akinsanmi

A human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana on Sunday said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lacked power under the 1999 Constitution to take decision on the Bayelsa and Kogi States governorship elections with two national commissioners.

Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), also said INEC required a minimum of five national commissioners to form a quorum to take decision, citing the decision of a Federal High Court in the case involving the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and INEC.

He expressed aversion to a situation whereby the electoral umpire would be operating with only two commissioners in a statement he personally signed on Sunday.

The senior advocate argued that since the INEC “is currently constituted by two national commissioners, it lacks the power to fix dates for elections and conduct them.”

He added that the INEC “is not validly constituted as required by section 159 of the 1999 Constitution as amended its decisions are liable to be set aside. Even when the INEC was constituted by a chairman and three other national commissioners in 2010, the Federal High Court held that the electoral body was not competent to take any decision.”

He referred to the case of ACN v. IINEC & Ors, where the court declared the composition of the INEC illegal and unconstitutional on the grounds that the four national commissioners who were in office at the material time could not take any valid decision as the quorum of the INEC should not be less than five national commissioners at any point in time.

Instead of rushing to the Court of Appeal after the trial court delivered its judgment, Falana pointed out that the federal government filled the vacancies in INEC by appointing 11 national commissioners.

He added that the five- year term of office of the national commissioners of INEC “has since expired by effluxion of time. In the same vein, the term of office of over 20 Resident Electoral Commissioners has since expired.

“As the judgment of the Federal High Court cited above is binding on the federal government by virtue of section 287 (3) of the Constitution President Mohammadu Buhari ought to fill the existing vacancies in the INEC without any further delay.

“Otherwise, the results of the forthcoming governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States as well as those of legislative elections in the various states of the federation are liable to be set aside on account of the illegal composition of the INEC.”

He further pointed out that the INEC “has announced the fixture of dates for the governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States. In addition, a number of the governorship/legislative election petition tribunals sitting in the various states of the federation have annulled some results of legislative elections due to proven cases of electoral malfeasance.

“The tribunals has ordered the INEC to conduct fresh elections in the relevant constituencies within 90 days with effect from the dates of the verdicts,” the senior advocated explained.

NgeneUkwenu:

Ebukaobi:
@topic

The rate at which my Igbo brothers use Yoruba names in the press these days is so funny

Lolzzz

Ebukaobi:
Lalasticlala, Seun, Obinoscopy.

Can you deal with this issue

He keeps breaking NL rules

YUSUPH1986:
[color=#990000][/color] u ar unrefine. Tame ur togue. U ar a mirrow through wc ur parent can be seen. Thanks

omoelesa:
Is just so surprising, that yeebos,that have no history of bravery is calling others coward.

omoelesa:
At least he is better than Ojukwu, that wasted million of Ibo lifes, and latter did Ben Johnson to Ivory coast.

OJUcrook:
story for the gods.

I thought you often foolishly say that Nigerians are the one stopping you from going back to Biafra, why dont you tell the Heeebos in Akure to come back to Biafra.

The Heeebos in Akure were humiliated and severely dealt with because of their insolence, and Similar fate await you all in other parts of Nigeria if you continue with you obduracy.

acenazt:
When hundreds died in single attacks,when towns were taken,barracks seiged and taken,hundreds of thousands displaced you never tagged the previous administration lazy. But just cos you are Anti Pmb makes his regime lazy right?? SMH i piety Nigerians

jcross19:
oga this is not a matter of which side are you , the matter on ground is that pmb is lying to nigerians through lying media that the attack of boko haram have been reduced, me and you know that's a capital lie. What matter now how to move the country forward from stagnant . If you love your country forget who you support but support what will bring good governance to society.