₦airaland Forum

senatordave1:
You this efik man,why not think of voting out failed governor ayade first before thinking of osun matters

Minjim:
3 years ke!
Where did you get that from?

Take it easy now.

Osun has cleared his now. What about the other states still owing?

wirinet:
I am not a supporter of PDP or APC. I used to be a Buhari supporter, but he too seems to have failed on many levels.

I just want to see right things done.

madridsta007:
Well, he hasn't exactly cleared all the monies owed (and yes, some were owed up to 3 years), despite releasing funds only some few days to the elections. Osun people have, as expected, proven that they do not have short-term memories.

Other states owing? Is that a logical and sensible argument? ("Dad, I know I took 26th position out of 27 in class... But what about the guy that took 27th position?" You see how silly your "argument" is?). Please take this sort of "argument" to those who can listen to it.

Minjim:
Who told you he hasn't cleared the salaries?

Get ur facts right. I'm from Iwo and I have ppl in the civil service. Those below level 8 even collect their full salaries but what we hear online is the govt is paying half salaries to all worker

My reference to other states was because you ppl are find of wailing as if its only Osun that owes.


The battle for osun is not over. I've experienced Pdp b4 in Osun and I know the Apc govt did better.

If you're not from osun and don't live there, you certainly have no stake in this

uniqueboi:
Adeleke satisfied the provision. In Osunbor v Oshiomhole (2007) 18 NWLR (part 1065) 32, cancelled votes had been counted and added to PDP/Osunbor’s scores.

“The courts, up to the Supreme Court, held that when votes are cancelled, they are not reckoned with in determining the outcome of such an election. The courts thereafter deducted the invalidated votes and this gave victory to Oshiomhole in the hotly contested election.”
Clearly irrelevant argument, what need to be ascertain here is whether these invalid votes deducted as it were is more than the margin in which Oshomhole defeated Osunbor in that election.

Very good argument.

ukpono10:
The Proposed Rerun Election in Osun State and the
Law
Preamble
It is now official that INEC has taken a decision to
conduct a rerun election in some polling units in
Osun State before declaring the 2018 Gubernatorial
Election conclusive. From the press release signed
by Solomon Soyebi, National Commissioner and
Chairman, Information and Voter Education
Committee of INEC, the reason for the decision is
given as follows: ”Based on the result by the
Returning Officer, the margin between the two
leading candidates is 353 which is lower than the
number of registered voters in the affected areas.
Extant law and INEC Guidelines and Regulations
provide that where such a situation occurs, a
declaration may not be made.” (See page 2,
paragraph 2 of INEC’s letter of Sunday 23rd
September, 2018).
It is important to note that the said letter has not
cited any section or provision of the ‘extant law and
INEC Guidelines and Regulations’ to enable readers
be on the same page with the Commission on the
issue. However, in announcing the decision to
declare the election inconclusive, Prof. Joseph
Adeola Fuwape, Returning Officer and Vice
Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology,
Akure was more specific when he said that the
decision is made pursuant to INEC’s Guidelines for
Election. He said that according to the Guidelines,
where the margin of victory at an election is less
than the number of votes cancelled in the same
election, a rerun must be conducted in the affected
polling units to determine the actual winner of the
election. The Professor did not also mention the
exact section of the Guidelines but, his submission
is clear and we can work with it for purpose of legal
exposition on the issue at hand.
What Does the Constitution say on When A
Candidate is Deemed to Have been Duly Elected?
Election into any public office in Nigeria is an issue
of law and the most superior law in the Federal
Republic of Nigeria today is the 1999 Constitution.
Section 179 (2) provides what is required to declare
a person winner in a gubernatorial election. It
provides thus:
”179(2) A candidate for an election to the office of
Governor of a State shall be deemedto have been
duly elected where, there being two or more
candidates –
(a) he has the highest number of votes castat the
election; and
(b) he has not less than one-quarter of all the votes
cast in each of at least two-thirds of all the Local
Government Area in the State.”
What the law contemplates here is simple majority
of votes cast. That means, even a hundred votes or
less will be sufficient for one to emerge as winner of
a gubernatorial election.
The Legal Question
The legal question here is, has the Governorship
candidate of the PDP met the above conditions of
the law? INEC has affirmed that after a thorough
counting of the votes cast, the result shows that
while the APC Candidate polled 254,345 votes, the
PDP Candidate polled 254,698 votes leaving a
difference or victory margin of 353 votes. By this
confirmation Adeleke of the PDP has won that
election with 353 votes. He has also won in not less
than two-thirds majority of all the 30 Local
Government Areas of the State.
Going by the provision of section 179(2) of the 1999
Constitution, Adeleke of the PDP has emerged the
winner of the 2018 Gubernatorial Election conducted
in Osun State.
There is nothing in that section to accommodate the
excuse given by INEC.
But the Constitution Recognizes a Rerun in the
following Circumstances
By section 179(3) of the same Constitution, a rerun
only becomes necessary where there is no
candidate with the highest number of votes in the
election. For instance if the candidate of the APC
and that of the PDP had equal number of votes, the
Constitution allows INEC to conduct a rerun within 7
days from the announcement of the result. Also,
where the candidate with the highest number of
votes does not have at least one-quarter of all the
votes cast in each of at least two-thirds of all the
LGAs in the State, a rerun becomes inevitable.
These are not the reasons given by INEC for the
proposed rerun election. The implication of this is
that the reasons given by INEC are not within the
contemplation of the Constitution.
When the Provisions of a Guideline is in Conflict
with the Provisions of the Constitution, what
Happens
Clearly, the provision of the INEC Guidelines and
Regulation which says that where the margin of
victory at an election is less than the number of
votes cancelled in the same election, a rerun must
be conducted in the affected polling units to
determine the eventual winner of the election, is in
conflict with the provisions of section 179(2) of the
1999 Constitution on when a candidate is deemed to
have emerged the winner in a gubernatorial
election. The Constitution does not have any such
provision or reason as given by INEC.
By section 1(1) of the Constitution it is provided as
follows: ”This Constitution is supreme and its
provisions shall have binding force on all authorities
and persons throughout the Federal Republic of
Nigeria”INEC is included in the phrase ”all
authorities and persons’‘. By section 1(3) it is
provided thus: ”If any other law is inconsistent with
the provision of this Constitution, this Constitution
shall prevail, and that other law shall, to the extent
of its inconsistency be void.”
By the above section on supremacy of the
Constitution, the provision of the INEC Guidelines
under review is null and void and have no effect
whatsoever having conflicted with the clear
provisions of section 179(2) of the Constitution.
Does the Law Have Any Business with Cancelled
Votes?
The law has no business with cancelled votes.
Once declared ‘cancelled’, such votes have no
further business in the electoral process and
cannot form the basis for the nullification of the
majority of lawful votes cast to warrant a rerun.
They ought not to form part of the counting process
and should not in any way influence the outcome of
the election. In the celebrated case of Adams
Oshiomole v. Prof. Osunbor, cancelled votes were
added to the scores of the Peoples’ Democratic
Party which saw to the emergence of Prof. Osunbor
as the Governor of Edo State. Adams Oshiomole
challenged the action in court and it was held that
cancelled votes had no role to play in the election
and should not have been counted for Prof. Osunbor
or any party whatsoever. The court then deducted
the votes and Adams Oshimole was declared the
winner.
When the cancelled votes in Osun are deducted
from the total number of valid votes cast, Adeleke
has, by operation of law, emerged the winner of the
election in issue.
What INEC Should Do in the Circumstance
INEC should rescind its decision on the rerun and
declare Adeleke the winner of the Osun State
Election in view of the fact that the reason given by
the Commission is not in sync with the provisions of
the Constitution. INEC should pay attention to the
language of the Constitution which provides that a
candidate for an election to the office of Governor of
a State shall be deemed to have been duly elected
…. By this phrase, a legal event has already
occurred; the Constitution has already deemed
Adeleke winner of the election. INEC has no further
say on this than to do the needful and call off the
proposed rerun.
Ekemini Udim is a lawyer and public affairs analyst.
ekeminiudimforjustice@gmail.com

Johnnyessensse:
We all know PDP bought votes massively in Osun

Awol1:
What is stopping PDP from going to court?

Because I'm not seeing this rerun in favour of PDP o

Themandator:
PDP is already in court