A FOLLOW-UP TO: Legal Howlers in Adamawa and Bauchi: Some Thoughts
Mobolaji E. Aluko
Netters:
Because of a near 'information overload,' it is possible to miss some
emails on the Net, or to skim and scan some reports and miss some portions
of it.
As a result, I am excerpting some portion of a Guardian write-up of today
that has to do with the aftermaths of gubernatorial races in Adamawa and
Bauchi. I had written about them yesterday in "Legal Howlers....", but
the Guardian touches more on them today.
A side note and a wrinkle that I was not aware of until now: the judge in
the Adamawa case (that ruled that no new election is necesssary to replace
'VP-elect' Abubakar Atiku) is none other than Justice I.N. Auta - yes, the
judge who sentenced Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other Ogoni activists to hang!
Go figure!
Best wishes.
------
THE GUARDIAN
Wednesday, March 24, 1999
Election fall-outs as test of the system
Whether it is the controversial Senatorial bye-election in Enugu which has
been postponed, the declaration by an Abuja Federal High Court that the
deputy governor-elect in Adamawa can still be sworn-in as governor or the
nullification of the governorship ticket in Bauchi because the
governor-elect and his deputy were not qualified to contest in the first
place, Senior Correspondent, TOLU OLAREWAJU with CHRIS CHIAGORO, writes
that some fall-outs from the elections held in the on-going transition are
a test of the durability of the emerging polity.
---- materials deleted -----
Apart from the presidential election which is now in court, perhaps the
most daunting challenge the judiciary is facing under the present
transition programme is in the gubernatorial elections in Adamawa and
Bauchi States. The judiciary has come up with what appear to be
contradictory verdicts in the two cases.
In Adamawa State where the governor-elect Alhaji Atiku Abubakar resigned
his mandate before assuming office to be the running mate of the PDP
Presidential candidate, INEC initially declared that a bye-election be
held to fill the vacancy created by Atiku. However the PDP went to an
Abuja High Court to challenge the bye-election and in a twist of events
the court ordered INEC not to conduct a bye-election into the office.
In other words, the court upheld that Mr. Bonnie Haruna having been duly
elected as deputy governor of the state, was entitled to be sworn in as
governor of the state, the deputy governor-elect had gone to court to
challenge INEC and the Adamawa State REC why another bye-election should
be held in the state.
Hon. Justice I. N. Auta, while giving ruling on the suit said Haruna,
having been duly elected as deputy governor is by law entitled to be sworn
in as governor of the state.
In Bauchi, on the other hand, the Court of Appeal in Jos nullified the
election of Alhaji Ahmed Adamu Muzau and his running mate, Alhaji Kaulaha
Aliyu both of the PDP simply because it was confirmed that Aliyu ersthwile
deputy governor-elect had been dimissed from the public service before
contesting the January 9, gubernatorial election. Muazu's emergence as
governor-elect was invalidated by the court on account of ineligibility of
his running mate, Aliyu.
Alhaji Adamu Tafawa Balewa, the defeated APP candidate in the state had
gone to court to challenge Muazu's mandate because Muazu was allegedly
dismissed from the board of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) while the
deputy governor-elect was allegedly dismissed from the service of the
Ministry of Economic Planning of the former North Eastern State.
In the end, Muazu was exonorated but his deputy was not. Muazu has
accepted the loss in good faith. He is free to recontest the fresh poll
which the Court of Appeal has ordered INEC to conduct.
Commentators on these developments believe there is some inconsistency in
allowing the Adamawa deputy governor-elect to assume the mandate
religuished by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, on the one hand while disqualifying
an entire governorship on the grounds that the deputy governor-elec was
not qualified to contest the election in the first place..
Analysts say the gubernatorial ticket is a joint ticket, and if the
governor-elect relinguishes his mandate before being sworn-in, then the
mandate should have been deemed forfeited. In the same way that Muazu lost
his mandate because his running mate was found guilty of an electoral
misdemeanor.
Analysts say the constitution is very clear that if an elected official
becomes incapable of dicharging his duties due to ill-health or if he is
incapacitated, then his deputy takes over. However whereby the elected
official declines to exercise his mandate, the post automatically becomes
vacant.Thus, his deputy governor-elect cannot step into his shoes because
hitherto, he had not exercised the mandate. And so, a bye-election ought
to have been conducted to choose a new official.
"This ought to have been the case in Adamawa State where the
governor-elect, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku stepped down or declined to exercise
the mandate given to him by the electorate and decided to be the running
mate of the PDP presidential candidate, General Olusegun Obasanjo.
"The election was conducted on the ticket of Atiku" Adelusi insisted. "It
is illegal for the running mate to assume that mandate because they had
not been sworn-in." According to Adelusi, once a person is sworn-in, it
implies he wants to exercise his mandate. "In fact, the swearing in
ceremony is symbolic of his willingness to exercise his mandate. And since
that was not the case, INEC should have been allowed to conduct a
bye-election in Adamawa", he stressed.
Observers say these developments are dangerous precedents which may not
augur well for the nation's existing political system. Therefore,
political leaders must ensure that whatever actions they take in their bid
to achieve electoral victories must stand the test of time, such that such
actions could form the fulsome of cnnobling political actions by
generation yet unborn.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 23 Mar 1999 10:18:23 -0500 (EST)
From: "Mobolaji E. Aluko" <mal...@scs.howard.edu>
To: NewsOnly Group <Naij...@esosoft.com>
Subject: Legal Howlers in Adamawa and Bauchi: Some Thoughts
Legal Howlers in Adamawa and Bachi: Some Thoughts
Netters:
I am not a certified lawyer, not even a lawyer at all, but an armchair
'lawyer' who reads "Law for Dummies", and surfs the Net for legal opinion.
I have been to court only once, when I was 'sentenced' for having just one
head-lamp working while driving at night. [Actually, it was for not
signing that I was guilty of an offence - not producing a driver's licence
- when in fact I produced it, only late, about 10 minutes later, while I
was looking for it!]
But I believe that where a legal statute is not explicit, or precedence
has not been set, then both expediency and common sense take over.
Take the cases of the gubernatorial elections in Adamawa and Bauchi
States. You must run as Governor and Deputy Governor in an election.
Common sense dictates that some supporters will vote for the joint ticket
because of one candidate or the other, or because they perceive that the
team is a strong one jointly. So common sense dictates that if AFTER the
election, but before the INSTALLATION, one of the winning candidates
(Governor or D-Gov.) quits or is forced out, a new election should be
called. That of course is if there is no definitie law about this
situation, or no precedence.
It seems common sense has prevailed in the Bauchi situation. The Deputy
Governor was determined NOT QUALIFIED to have run in the election for
reason of having been dismissed from public service before, therefore
violating an electoral decree. The Gubernatorial candidate was himself
not so blameworthy, but the Judge Edozie annulled the entire election on
the grounds that the ticket was tainted.
And so it should be. The annulled governor is preparing to run again -
with a new Deputy as candidate.
But take the case of the legal howler - Adamawa State. The winning
gubernatorial candidate, Abubakar Atiku, gets 'elected' as Vice-President
of the country (the case is still in court), leaving a vacancy in Adamawa
even before he assumes his post. Single-handedly, he designates his Deputy
as the new Governor, threatening hell and brimstone if any other decision
is reached. His threat seems to have worked, because a Judge ruled
recently that in fact no new election should be held, and that Atiku's
Deputy should be the new Governor!
The Adamawa Judgement seems to contradict the Bauchi Judgement on a matter
of Principle, and I believe of law.
The law is an ass - and this is a fine example! How does the
Deputy-turned-Governor now choose his own Deputy? Suppose in future
somebody plots to win the top post by convincing a more popular person to
run for that post with him as Deputy, only for that more popular person to
resign at the last minute?
Enquiring minds want to know. Where is Mnubia?
Bolaji Aluko
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