2023: Controversy Trails INEC’s Replacement Of Candidates

By Ayodele Oni

Controversy has surrounded the last-minute replacement of candidates for next year’s general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Investigations revealed that some candidates being dropped had emerged victorious during the primary elections conducted by their respective political parties.

Some of them have now been dropped by the electoral empire due to court orders to that effect or on compliance with their party’s instructions.

For instance, in Kano state, where INEC has released names of governorship candidates for 2023 elections, name of Mohammed Abacha, the son of former Military Head of State was excluded.

Abacha is the governorship candidate of the court-backed faction of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Kano.

The electoral umpire approved Sadiq Wali and Yusuf Bello Danbatta as gubernatorial and deputy gubernatorial candidates of the PDP in the state. Wali is a son of former Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Intra-party conflicts and litigations had trailed the primary election, following parallel leadership structure which led to factional primary elections in Kano.

However, a Federal High Court gave a favourable judgement for the Shehu Wada Sagagi-led faction that produced Mohammed Abacha as the governorship candidate of the party.

The other faction of the party led by Senator Bello Hayatu Gawarzo, who is the North-West vice chairman of the party, produced Sadiq Wali as the governorship candidate of its faction in a parallel primary election.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Kano State, Prof. Riskuwa Shehu, had earlier told journalists that INEC recognised Mohammed Abacha as the rightful candidate having been produced by the faction that was recognised by the court.

Reacting to the development, INEC Public Relations Officer in Kano, Ahmad Adam Maulud, said the commission at the Kano office submitted the results of the primaries it had monitored to the headquarters of the electoral umpire in Abuja but the list which was pasted on Friday, which excluded Abacha’s name was from Abuja.

“Whoever wishes to seek any clarification should contact national body of his or her party for any information,” Maulud said.

In Ebonyi state, the Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki has disqualified Governor David Umahi, of Ebonyi State from contesting the election for Ebonyi South senatorial district seat on the platform of his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Similarly, the court disqualified Austin Umahi, who is the governor’s younger brother from also participating in the election on the party’s platform.

The younger Umahi had clinched the party’s ticket to contest the election in the senatorial district after he emerged the winner of the APC primary in the zone.

He later resigned to pave the way for Governor Umahi to contest the Ebonyi South senatorial district election after the governor lost out in the APC Presidential Primary to former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu.

During a court proceeding on Friday, Justice Fatun Riman, declared that with the withdrawal of Austin Umahi, after winning the primary, the authentic candidate of the party for Ebonyi South senatorial district was Ms Ann Agom-Eze, who came second in the primary.

According to the judge, Section 115 of the Electoral Act forbids a person from contesting two different primary elections in the same year.

In a swift reaction to the court’s decision, the Special Assistant to Governor Umahi on Strategy, Chris Oko, said the judge was misled by Agom-Eze.

He alleged that Agom-Eze lied on oath that she never withdrew from the contest, stressing that there would be a re-run.

INEC had in June published the names and particulars of candidates vying for various positions at the federal level in the 2023 general elections.

But Governor Umahi’s name and particulars were missing from the list published by the electoral body which said it never monitored any rerun primary where Umahi was elected as candidate.

Displeased with the development, Governor Umahi approached the Federal High Court seeking an order for INEC to publish his name as the candidate of the ruling party for the election in the senatorial district. Ms Ann Agom-eze had also applied to be joined in the suit.

Report from Edo state indicates that INEC has written to the (PDP) insisting that it only recognized the list of candidates produced at the primary election held by Dan Orbih’s faction in May.

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court 5, Abuja, had in earlier judgment in the Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/808/2022 issued an order directing INEC to only accept and recognize the candidates that emerged from the Dan Orbih faction on May 18.

Recall that Ihama, Ogieva, Omagbon, Giwa and others had approached the Federal High Court 5, Abuja, seeking an order for INEC to only recognize the Dan Orbih-led faction of the party’s primary.

Following Justice Ekwo’s judgment, INEC in a letter dated June 27, 2022 and signed by its Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony and addressed to the National Chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu, asking the party to forward the list recognized by court to the commission.

INEC in the letter titled, “Notification of pending orders in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/807/2022 between Dr. Michael Onolememen & 2 Ors. V. INEC; Suit No. FHC/ABJ/808/ between Barr. Nosa Adams & 8 Prs. V. INEC and Suit No. FHC/ABJ/809/2022 between Christabel O. Ekwu & 23 Ors. V. INEC and the need to Comply with them” asked PDP to comply with the order.

“The Commission hereby draws the attention of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the order of the Court arising from the three (3) suits listed above.

“In line with the order of Court, the Commission is restrained from accepting and recognizing any list of candidates other than the list containing the names of the plaintiffs as the PDP’s duly nominated candidates for the election of the seats of senators representing the senatorial zones of Edo North, Edo South and Edo Central of Edo State; the twenty-four House of Assembly constituencies across Edo State.

“Accordingly, the Commission expects the PDP to forward the nomination forms of the respective candidates as ordered by the Federal High Court, Abuja,” the umpire said.

The PDP had conducted parallel primaries by the factions loyal to the party’s National Vice Chairman, South South,  Orbih and the faction loyal to Governor Godwin Obaseki at different locations across the state. But the court rejected Governor Obaseki’s faction