A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has said that the judgements of the appellate court sacking Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State and Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State should be reviewed because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed in its duty to conduct proper elections in the country.
The human right lawyer made the submissions during an interview on Channels Television’s ‘Sunday Politics’ programme, on Sunday.
Falana said that the votes of Nigerians should not be nullified by the courts because of the supposed negligence of the electoral body that should not have cleared candidates put forward by parties without primaries conducted.
He also said that thousands of votes should not be invalidated by the court because INEC officials failed to stamp ballot sheets.
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According to him, election matters should be concluded before the inauguration of any administrations.
He said: “If you look at what happened in Lagos is different from what happened in Plateau. You are being told in Plateau that there was a judgment of the High Court to the effect that primaries have to be conducted. The judgment, as usual, was dishonoured and disobeyed and the election went on.
“It is different from Kano where you are being told that voters can be punished. It is a very dangerous judicial policy to sanction voters for the mistake of electoral officers.
“We are being told that 165,000 votes are wasted, they are invalid because some electoral officers committed an error by not stamping them. How does that affect the validity of the election?”
“I do hope that this time around, the Supreme Court will resolve these needless controversies surrounding the non-stamping of ballot papers by INEC officials who have not been recommended for any sanction.
“This is why these judgments will have to be reviewed.”
