APC takes a stand on Edo planned LGC Elections

By Kingsley Abavo, Benin

Ahead of the planned Local Government Councils Elections in Edo State, the opposition political Party, All Progressives Congress (APC) has disclosed its stand. The Party spoke to Journalists on Tuesday in Benin-City, through its State Publicity Secretary, Prince Peter Enoseregbe Uwadiae Igbinigie Esq.

Full Text!

We heard that the Edo State Government is trying to pull a wool across the face of Edo people; saying it wants to conduct the Local Government Councils Election. The Party, APC wants to make its position known in respect of that.

We are very worried and disturbed that a Governor who is duly elected democratically, who came to power through a democratic process will no longer know, that things should be done democratically. That portends danger for us as Edo people!

Permit me to say; by the new Electoral Act 2022, election in Nigeria are no longer as they used to be particularly; election into the Local Government Councils, they have been taken beyond the ordinary, like Governors, Executives, actors used to do without recourse to law, without recourse to the public interest; about how their councils are run.

First and foremost; the right to participate in an election is a fundamental right recognized by our Constitution, and the Electoral Act. And because it is a right; it must be exercised within the ambit of the relevant laws relating to an election. Election is a process and because it is a process that has been recognized by our laws and the Judiciary, it must be articulately followed with recourse to the enabling Status that would create a free, fair and credible election.

In terms of the Local Government Councils election; when you are dealing on that issue, you must have recourse to the Electoral Act and EDSIEC Law. And in doing that you must have a synergy between the Electoral Act and the EDSIEC Law. In other words, provision of the EDSIEC Law should not run contrary to that of the Electoral Act and to the extent of the fundamentals of the EDSIEC Law; if it runs contrary to the fundamental aspect of the Electoral Act, the provision of the Electoral Act takes preeminence and precedent. That is the position of the Law and there are Judicial authorities on this! In other words;

When you pick a copy of the Electoral Act particularly the section that has to do with the Electoral process and any of the sections that runs contrary, must be jettisoned.

Now, let us take a look at the issues at the front burner. The Edo State Government has said it wants to conduct elections into the Local Government Councils through the EDSIEC. This is a fundamental responsibility of the Government and it ought not to be today; there is no vaccum in Government. As the tenure of the previous administration was ending, there ought to have been election so that as soon as those leaving office were dropping their pen, the newly elected officials would be stepping in.

But one wonders why the Governor refused to do that when it was necessary. The APC have been on the neck of the State Government as to why the Councils elections were not conducted.

Surprisingly, recently, we heard that the State Government has come up with a bogus Program in respect of Local Government Councils election. But we are saying; that cannot be because like I said earlier; elections into the the Local Government Councils are no longer a tea party thing where the Governor would sit in the comfort of his bedroom and write results.

No, the new Electoral Act has taken it beyond that point. That is to say you must follow the process adequately, and conscientiously. And what is the process?

You must give the respective political parties the time, the space and beyond that the resources to do that process. And the money required to do the election belongs to the tax payers and by the provision of the Constitution, before any kobo is spent, it must be voted for.

Let it be noted that the Local Government Councils election is a humongous activity that requires so much money and before any kobo of the tax payers money could be spent, it must be appropriated in the fiscal budget.

But there is nowhere in the State 2022 fiscal budget that money is voted for the proposed Local Government Councils elections. So where is the Government going to get the money to finance this humongous activity?

Also, as we speak, there is no supplementary budget coming from the Executive to the State House of Assembly if any; to suggest that the money required for a free and credible election will come from the coffers of the Edo State Government.

Hence the APC is saying the Obaseki led PDP administration is not a serious one!

Then the most fundamental and classic of it all; members of the State House of Assembly concorted a document they called; an amendment to the EDSIEC law. Tell me the reason why it is the most important aspect of that law that they would amend?

And before any law that is significant to the people could be amended, their input must be involved.

And what is the amendment? The requisite notice from EDSIEC to the political parties which the Electoral Act made 90 days, is now being watered down to 20 days by the so called amendment.

And we are saying no! That cannot be! Any provision from the State Legislature on the same issue that run contrary to the provision of the Electoral Act which is the Act of the National Assembly, to the extent of its inconsistency, is null and void.

As far as the APC is concerned in Edo State, that amendment is novel, insignificant and of no effect!

Again, how is the relevant aspect of the law amended? There are plethora of authorities that says such amendment before it can be done, there must be two third House of Assembly members that will vote for or against.

But today, the so called Edo State House of Assembly do not have the required Constitutional two third majority.

By provision of the Nigerian Constitution, no House of Assembly can function when the membership is less than 24 or more than 40. In other words, the Constitution provides that the membership of the State House of Assembly should be between 40 and 24. Anything short of 24, is not a House of Assembly.

So, in Edo State as we speak, we don’t even have a House of Assembly.

Against this backdrop, who are the people who now amended the existing law which provides for 90 days? Because the EDSIEC law; before this so called amendment, provides for 90 days notice to the political Parties; which conforms with the Electoral Act.

However, because of their mudane interest and shallow understanding of the working of a functional democracy, they decided to reduce the days of notice to 20 days which runs contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act.

To that extent, that section they claim to have amended, is null and void.

So, in the prevailing situation, how do you conduct an election? It therefore means; the Obaseki led PDP administration is making mockery of our democracy. Hence the APC, Edo State is calling upon the relevant authorities to check the undemocratic tendencies of the Obaseki’s administration. He has succeeded in truncating and decimating the State House of Assembly by not allowing the 14 elected members to be sworn in.

The prevailing situation we have found ourselves today in Edo, shows that the Governor Godwin Obaseki led PDP administration; do not know what it takes to conduct a free, fair and credible election.

To that extent, the APC has said and have advised Edo people not only to ignore the Governor who has said he wants to conduct the Local Government Councils election; but also ask on what basis, under what law, under whose finances is he going to carry out this humongous activity?

Is’t the tax payers money that has not been appropriated for the election? Where are you going to get the money and sanction it?

This is because, to the extent that it is the House of Assembly that will vote to represent the voice of the people even though we don’t have a voice now; so APC has said: we will not participate in this kangaroo and mundane act of the Governor; and we want to also use this medium to advise the Edo State Governor and his co-travellers to beat a retreat from this condemnable and ineptitude act of theirs; and subject Edo people to the real issues of democratic tendencies that we are practicing or we ought to be practicing in Nigeria and Edo being part of it.

This is because anything that is done contrary to the generality as encapsulated in our Electoral Act, it shows that Edo State is no longer part of the nation; Nigeria.

We are not under any autocratic Government, Obaseki was duly elected to represent the people, the mandate the people gave him to do things according to law that he has sworn to, to do things that would safe guard the interests, the lives and property of the people, to do things that would positively affect the lives of the people, to do things to make judicious use of Edo State resources to the betterment of the people, to do things that would positively affect the life of the ordinary man on the street and not to continue to create problems when there seems not to be any even within his own so called Party.

The leadership of his Party have said this move by the Governor is to further create problems for the Edo people and many of his well known leaders in the PDP have spoken about it. One of such persons, is Owere Dickson Imasogie; a very revered Party elder and leader in the PDP. He has said this move by the Governor is to further create problems for the Party and by extension; Edo people. Also, Charles Idahosa has lend his voice to it that how could the Governor conduct election under this circumstances that we are in Edo? From where is he going to get the money?

It also beats my imagination why people who are supposed to be advising the Governor are not doing it. Whether because of pecuniary reasons, I wouldn’t know. The Chairman of EDSIEC today; Hon. Justice Oyomire rtd. is a man we in the legal profession respect so much while he was yet a sitting Judge, his judgements were such that you cannot fault; he has it upstairs but today, I wonder why he allowed the Governor to use him as one who does not have it anymore? But I strongly believe he is still the Judge we used to know: sound and intelligent; he should tell us why he wants to make use of a law he knows run contrary to the Electoral Act? How is he going to function under a law that he knows was wrongly amended and the amendment itself run contrary to the provision of the Electoral Act; which creates a state of inconsistency with the Electoral Act? And he knows the meaning of inconsistency part of an inferior law to a superior law. So, why should he allow himself to be used?

And again; taking a look at the timetable they released, is phoney! Election will be done first, before candidates are screened, that is putting the law head up-side down. Between aspirants and being a candidate which one come first in a democracy? But in this case, the timetable reveals that you first become a candidate before becoming an aspirant. That is very abnormal; it is not a tendency in a setting so called a democracy. So what kind of jamboree the Governor is trying to foist on Edo people?

So is the APC going to Court?

Well, we are putting our materials together. As wether we will go to Court, I will justapose my answer; reason being that we are collating a lot so that when we shoot our salvo, we will not miss the target. APC is a very organized Party hence we don’t want to embark on a journey we are not too sure of the result at the end.

We have contacted our legal team, and they are already at work but I can assure you that at no distant time you will hear us at the appropriate quarters; and the law Court is one of them.

APC wants to be a good opposition for the people of Edo because the present administration of Obaseki is an aberration otherwise, the people of the State have been enjoying the benefits of the legacies of APC and that; you can find from all that Adams Oshiomhole did while in the saddle of governance. Unfortunately, the Obaseki’s administration has truncated that positive growth and development in the State.

But the APC wants to correct that and if the right things are done going into a local Government Council election, I can assure you that the Party will fight the PDP to a standstill!

But again, we don’t even know if the Governor is a member of the PDP, AA or a travelling member of an unknown Party and the reasons are very obvious. In not too long ago, the deputy Governor was crying while the Governor was trying to pacify him. Before you know it the Court came out with a verdict that all that the Governor had come to do in the PDP with the term: harmonization or whatever nomenclature they gave it, is not recognized within the ambit of the law and as such, the existing structure in place before he joined the Party should enjoy the statutory flavor of four years and until that four years expires, they remain the legitimate Exco of the PDP in Edo State.

So today, we don’t even know wether the Governor is a member of the PDP because according to the deputy Governor, they have not been accepted into the Party. It means therefore, the Government of today; and that is why we are even having problems now because his motive of hurriedly organizing a jamboree now, is to ensure he has representatives within the Government that would be statutory delegates to their Presidential primaries. And that has also been known by the PDP and it is saying: no, you cannot do that because we are the owner of this Party; you just came and we accepted you because you have been rejected by the other Party.

And let me remind us; the reason the APC denied Obaseki of his second coming is what he is practising now in the PDP and that was why Nyesome Wike said the thing he regretted most since his birth, is ever been friends with the Edo State Governor because our leaders warned him to be wary of Obaseki, but he didn’t believe them and today he has tendered an unreserved apology to Adams Oshiomhole and the APC.

So in all; let me say that Edo people who mean well, we not participate in the jamboree hurriedly been put together now by the Governor because it is undemocratic, it is unconstitutional and it is null and void. As to our own position as a Party, we are not participating in that jamboree. Also, we are pulling resources together to challenging same in the appropriate quarters, including the Court.