… Says voters can challenge election result in court
Sam Amadi, a professor of law, says elections conducted in Nigeria were contrary to the amended Electoral Act 2022 and the constitution should be annulled.
Amadi argued that it was wrong for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to act contrary to its own rules, noting that the commission was bound to obey such rules because they were law, especially when there was no amendment through legitimate law making process.
The 2023 Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) ruled that the INEC is not mandated to transmit election results electronically. The ruling came after a legal challenge to INEC’s decision to transmit the results manually.
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“By the provision of Section 52 and Section 65 of the Electoral Act, INEC is at liberty to prescribe the manner in which results can be transmitted. INEC cannot be compelled to electronically transmit results,” the court held.
But speaking in a public forum recently, Amadi disagreed with the Supreme Court justices that the commission could suddenly introduce new rules, when there was an existing one in the conduct of election and transmission of election results in the country.
The former chairman of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), further argued that the 2023 election results should have been transmitted electronically according to the 2022 Electoral Act, stressing that where such happen contrarily, the entire election should have been nullified by the Supreme Court.
According to Amadi, “INEC was totally wrong and the Supreme Court Justices got it wrong. When an agency is created under the law with the enabling Act, and the constitution says; you can make rules, those rules are law.
“They can un-make it through the rulemaking process, if they don’t they are bound to obey it. Results should have been transmitted electronically.
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“I have a PHD in law and I can stand anywhere to dispute the best and brightest. I was ashamed when the court affirmed that INEC can just walk away from the law.
“Five years, I was the regulator of electricity, when we made tariffs, the same way INEC makes rules, the tariff is a legal instrument and binding law. I hold INEC and the courts responsible for the failure of elections”.
Speaking further, Amadi pointed out that citizens and voters could sue electoral commission over the conduct of election, citing instances from the United States; he noted that most election cases that went to court in that country in 202o were from civil society organisations.
He said it was wrong for the court to decide the winner of elections in Nigeria, saying that the judiciary should rather annul the election that was not conducted in compliance to the rule and order for a fresh election.
“It is important to clarify who can sue. Electoral jurisprudence, the problem with Nigeria politicians is that they don’t understand electoral jurisprudence; means that the court’s job is to restore back power to the people voting in a democracy.
Speaking further, he stated, “the dispute is not with Mr Amadi and Mr X, no, it is about the people’s rights to elect their leader, therefore, we should not be saying it is only persons who contest election and could have won should file an electoral petition.
“The citizens, who voted, have a right to go to court and say that; the process was faulty. Look at the United States jurisprudence, all the cases that went to court in 2020 were mostly by civil society groups and voters. That should change.
“What does it take to nullify an election? I also wonder why judges feel that they call for substantive justice, substantive compliance, if elections were conducted outside the rules, that is enough to nullify the election, you don’t have to prove that you would have won.
“Election should be nullified, if they are conducted contrary to rules. Our jurisprudence is faulty on that”.
