The Peoples Democratic Party candidate in the last Kwara Central senatorial election, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, has petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, alleging criminal falsification of the election result by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
The petition, dated September 18, 2015 and signed by Azeez Adegoke of Sundry Law Office, on behalf Mr. Abdulrazaq, is asking the Inspector General to investigate the alleged forgery of Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s Form EC 8D and Form EC 8E signed by an aide of Mr. Saraki, Ladi Hassan, and the collation/returning officer, Mulkah Ahmed, declaring Mr. Saraki winner of the poll while election is yet to be concluded and votes are still being collated.
The forms were signed on March 28, the petitions says.
The petitioner argued that election results were still being collated on 29 March, 2015 and results were formally announced INEC on 30 March, 2015.
It says even Mr. Saraki acknowledged that point when he posted a statement by his media aide, Bamikole Omishore, on his Facebook page on March 30 declaring the result as the final return of the poll and thanking his supporters for his victory.
Describing the result as a “nice little work of amateur fiction”, Mr. Abdulrazaq said the result was apparently prepared prior to the election date for the specific purpose of announcing Mr. Saraki as winner of the poll.
He said Mr. Saraki and the INEC collation officer violated the provision of the Section 69 of the Electoral Act, 2010, by announcing a result that was not a product of counting the total number of votes cast by voters.
“Section 69 of the Electoral Act, 2010, as amended, provides that ‘the result (of an election) shall be ascertained by counting the votes cast for each candidate’ and subject to sections 133, 134 & 179 of the Constitution before any candidate is declared elected by a Returning Officer.
“Where, therefore, a final election return has been made before all votes cast have been counted and their validity determined, as in the instant case, such a declaration must of necessity be taken as incomplete, fraudulent and a nullity. Hence, our client contends that Dr (Mrs) Ahmed, Alhaji Hassan and, by extension, Dr Saraki manifestly violated section 69 of the Act. And knowingly so,” he said.
The petitioner observed that the result sheet signed on March 28 was only signed by Mr. Hassan, who acted as agent for the All Progressives Congress in the election and the collation officer.
“It is instructive that it was only Dr Saraki, among all the candidates, that had the result that forenoon. It’s also curious that the copy of the election result that was signed by the Returning Officer and admitted in evidence by the election Tribunal was signed by only one party agent ¾ that of Dr Saraki and the APC,” the petition read.
According to the petitioner, strangely enough Mr. Saraki relied on the alleged concocted result in his defence at the election tribunal arguing that the election petition against him should be struck out for being status barred.
“It speaks volumes, too, that the two documents were tendered on oath by Alhaji Hassan to the election Tribunal, whom Dr Saraki asked to strike out the Petition against him, claiming that it was statute-barred as the election return was made on 28th March 2015 and the Petition was filed on 19th April — one day more than the 21 days allowed by section 285(5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) which states thus: ‘An election petition shall be filed within 21 days after the date of the declaration of result of the elections’. Unsure of his defence, and having himself refused to appear or call any witness in his cause before the Tribunal, Dr Saraki wants the case decided not on its merit but on technicality — and a contrived one at that.
“It is, then, our client’s belief that the dodgy documents were the culmination of a process that operated in a way as to produce a fixed outcome, which it did; and which Dr Saraki and co perversely tried to ensure the electoral heist they pulled off is allowed to stand at the election Tribunal. Awful as it surely is, what is grotesquely evil and disturbing is not that they rigged the election. Rather, it’s that they sought to cover up their crimes with an even more obscene one; and, then, even have the chutzpah to blame the main victim.
“Under cross-examination on oath by INEC’s Counsel at the election Tribunal, Mr Tunde Salako, the INEC Head of Legal Unit in Kwara State, who was subpoenaed by the Petitioner, claimed that the purported election result was declared on 29th March 2015 ¾ a testimony that at once violently tears into the integrity and legality of [the results].”
(Premium Times)
No comments:
Post a Comment