INEC Holds Re-Run Polls In 18 States, ’Morrow …Vacates Court Orders On Bauchi, Adamawa

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the supplementary governorship election earlier scheduled to hold in Bauchi and Adamawa states will still hold, even though the issue has become a subject of litigation.
The litigation on the Bauchi governorship election, INEC said, was initiated by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Mohammed Abubakar.
Taking to its verified Twitter handle @inecnigeria, yesterday, INEC said an interlocutory injunction to suspend the process has been served on the commission by the Federal High Court, Abuja.
“While the commission has complied in accordance with its policy to obey all court orders in deference to the rule of law, it has also taken urgent steps to vacate the order and dismiss the action,” INEC said.
It noted that the litigation and consequential order only affect the collation of results for the governorship election in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area.
“Consequently, the supplementary elections will proceed as scheduled on Saturday, March 23 in the other 15 local government areas of Bauchi State as well as the Kirfi State Constituency Supplementary Election in Kirfi Local Government Area,” the commission said.
The commission also released the schedule for the supplementary elections which will hold in Bauchi State, tomorrow.
The schedule, obtained from the INEC office in Bauchi State, indicated that the re-run will hold in 36 Polling Units in 29 Registration Areas (wards) scattered across 15 of the 20 local government areas of Bauchi State.
It further showed that a total of 22, 641 registered voters are expected to participate in the exercise.
It would be recalled that the Returning Officer of the elections in Bauchi State, Prof. Kyari Mohammed, had, early hours of Monday, March 11, 2019, declared the Governorship election in the state as inconclusive.
According to him, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. Bala Mohammed got 469, 512 votes to lead his closest rival, the incumbent Governor, Mohammed Abubakar of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who got 465, 453 votes.
He said that because the margin of lead between the two candidates is 4, 059 votes, having earlier cancelled the entire votes of one of the three local government areas Speaker Yakubu Dogara represents in the House of Representatives, Tafawa Balewa, which has 139, 240 registered voters, a winner cannot be announced.
Mohammed, who said that the number of cancelled votes in the elections even without that of Tafawa Balewa LGA is 45, 312, therefore, declared that based on Section 26 (53) of the Electoral Act, the elections in Bauchi State is inconclusive, and directed INEC to conduct re-run elections in the affected LGAs within 21 days.
But an investigative committee led by the National Commissioner, Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, sent from the INEC Headquarters, Abuja, during its three-day assignment in the state, discovered that the cancelled votes in Ningi LGA were 2, 533 and not 25, 330 during the collation.
The INEC Headquarters, following the recommendation of the Okoye-led committee, directed that the error of the 22, 797 cancelled votes in the LGA be corrected and deducted from the 45, 240 votes earlier announced.
The breakdown of the areas affected and the number of registered voters, according to the document, showed that 1 polling unit in 1 ward in Alkaleri has 1,190 registered voters while 1 polling unit in 1 ward in Bogoro has 1,130 registered voters.
Similarly, INEC said, the Adamawa State High Court had issued an injunction restraining the commission from proceeding with the supplementary election following the application by the Movement for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy, a registered political party which did not take part in the main election.
It said that though the commission had also complied with the order, it has also taken steps to vacate it and dismiss the action.
“Notwithstanding the legal action over the Supplementary Governorship election, elections will hold in Nassarawo/Binyeri State Constituency in Mayo–Belwa Local Government Area where the election had to be countermanded following the death of a candidate before the polls, as well as the supplementary State Constituency election and Uba/Gaya State Constituency in Hong Local Government Area,” INEC said.