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Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission will hold the Local Government elections in all 16 LGs on Saturday after resolving legal challenges, writes TUNDE OYEKOLA
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, presided over by Justice Peter Lifu, on Tuesday, cleared the coast for the conduct of chairmanship and councillorship elections in the 16 Local Government Areas of Kwara State.
Barring any exigency, the council election will be held in the 16 LGs across the length and breadth of Kwara State on Saturday, September 21, 2024.
Ruling on the ex parte motion in a suit filed by the Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party to stop the election in the state, Justice Peter Lifu lifted a restraining order which prevented the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission from proceeding with the elections.
Justice Lifu vacated the interim order, citing that it had exceeded its lawful duration. According to the judge, such ex parte orders are only valid for up to 14 days, and the particular order, which had been in place since July 29, 2024, had far surpassed that timeframe.
“The ex parte order has been in place for over six weeks, which is beyond the 14-day limit stipulated by law,” Justice Lifu stated in his ruling. He stressed that the order had effectively expired and, therefore, needed to be set aside.
In a separate ruling, Justice Lifu also dismissed a contempt charge brought by the Peoples Democratic Party against the Chairman of KWASIEC, Alhaji Baba Okanla. The PDP asked the court to imprison Okanla, alleging that he violated a valid court order.
The electoral commission fixed Saturday, September 21, 2024, for the conduct of local government election in the state, seven years after it was last held in the state in October 2017. Its chairman, Okanla, announced on May 16 that the state would conduct the LG elections on the said date. According to a statement he signed, “Kwara State Local Government Council Elections will be held across the 16 local government areas of the state on September 21, 2024.”
Since the inception of the All Progressives Congress administration in the state on May 29, 2019, the 16 local government councils were being run by the Transition Implementation Committee, whose members were handpicked by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, until June 2024 when the government dissolved the TIC and directed the Director of Administration in each of the councils to take over the management.
Since the announcement of the election date, KWASIEC, the electoral umpire, has been making preparations for the smooth conduct of the election, to promote democracy at the grassroots. Such preparations included the release of the timetable which involved the conduct of the primary election by the political parties to elect their chairmanship and councillorship candidates and submission of their names to the electoral body for the election.
KWASIEC had also made all the registered political parties in the state sign a peace accord to ensure the smooth conduct of the election while it also embarked on the recruitment of ad hoc staff that would help in the exercise.
However, only five political parties have commenced preparation for the September 21 polls in Kwara State.
The PUNCH confirmed the candidates of each political party for the race from the list pasted by the electoral commission on the notice board of its headquarters on Fate Road, Ilorin. From the list, only Accord, Allied Peoples Movement, Social Democratic Party, PDP and the APC will battle for the 209 seats comprising 193 councillorship and 16 chairmanship positions in the Saturday election.
It was further gathered that following alleged lapses in the conduct of the primary election in some of the political parties, some aggrieved aspirants, especially in the ruling APC in the state, filed petitions in various high courts in the state and Abuja, the FCT.
However, as the date for the contest approaches, the main opposition party, the PDP, at various opportunities, expressed fear and concern over the ability of the electoral umpire to conduct free, fair and unbiased election on Saturday.
Sources hinted that the situation must have accounted for the number of a few participating parties in the election.
The major threat to the conduct of the election, however, was the suit filed before Justice Lifu at the Federal High Court, Abuja, which restrained the Independent National Electoral Commission from releasing the voter register to both KWASIEC and the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.
The state chapter of the PDP, in suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1061/2024, dragged INEC, KWASIEC, the state Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the Department of State Service to court to stop them from the conduct of the LG election in the state.
The court, on July 30, 2024, granted an injunction restraining INEC from releasing the voter register in the state to both the KWASIEC and the state Attorney General, who were the second and third defendants in the case, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
It also restrained both the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of DSS from providing security for the conduct of the election in the state, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The PDP, which filed the suit, denied the allegation that it was moving to stop the Federal Government’s effort to restore democracy at the grassroots in the state, by preventing the conduct of the election.
Responding to the inquiry from The PUNCH, the state PDP Publicity Secretary, Mr Olusegun Adewara, said the party acted to prevent the state from falling into the bobby trap of the governor.
Adewara, who alleged that KWASIEC was in the control of the state government, alleged that the electoral body had not been following the Kwara State Local Government Electoral Law guiding the conduct of the council election in the state.
He said, “Since KWASIEC announced the election date in May this year, it has been manipulating the election guidelines which it issued and distributed to the political parties. For instance, it has changed the date the political parties are to conduct their primary elections twice and has also shifted the date for the submission of a list of candidates by the political parties.
“Also, KWASIEC did not follow the constitution of Nigeria in the number of days allocated for campaign for the election, as the campaign for this election was allowed from August 19 to September 20, which is about 30 days instead of 180 days stipulated by the 1999 Constitution as amended.”
“KWASIEC is acting the script of the governor because the way and manner it manipulates the electoral process is not capable of promoting democracy at the grassroots. We have not gone to court to stop the election but to safeguard Kwara State from falling into the bobby trap set by the government.
“How can we stop an election in which we paid over N80m to KWASIEC as fees for our candidates? We are not the only political party that approached the court, other political parties, including the aggrieved aspirants in the APC, have also gone to court to seek redress for the alleged manipulation of the state LG Electoral Law by KWASIEC.”
When contacted, Alhaji Okanla declined reaction, insisting that he would not speak on any matter concerning the election until Wednesday when the commission would hold a press briefing with journalists in the state.
“I don’t want to speak on any issue concerning the local government election until the press chat where we are going to address all journalists in the state and it is being organised to be held on Wednesday,” he told The PUNCH in a telephone conversation on Saturday.
Okanla, in an interview earlier granted The PUNCH, absolved the electoral body of sidelining political parties in the state in all its actions and decisions on the local government election. He said “All necessary information such as election guidelines and timetable were given to officials of all the political parties during the interface with the political parties.
“The allegation that we didn’t provide them needed information on the election is a great lie because we personally supplied them with the election guidelines and timetable during the interface with all the political parties,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PDP has said it remained focused, despite losing the court case on Tuesday.
PDP, in a statement signed by Adewara on Tuesday after the court ruling, said, “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State remains steadfast and resolute in our commitment to contesting and winning the upcoming local government elections scheduled for September 21, 2024.
“As such, we like to clarify recent legal developments surrounding the elections and address some misinformation being spread by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
“The court, in its wisdom, has lifted the restraining order initially placed on the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWASIEC) and others. The court’s decision was based on the expiration of the ex parte order, which, by law, cannot extend beyond 14 days. While the substantive case challenging the processes of KWASIEC continues, the PDP fully respects the court’s ruling and will proceed with the elections in accordance with the law.”
Speaking further, the statement said, “On the matter of contempt, the court overruled the charges due to the alleged inability to serve the process directly on the KWASIEC Chairman, Alhaji Baba Okanla. Since contempt is quasi-criminal, the alleged contemnor must be served in person and be present in court. The court ruled that, in this instance, the requirement for personal service was not satisfied, thereby dismissing the contempt charges on the grounds of lack of fair hearing.
“We are aware that the ruling government has attempted to twist this outcome to suit their propaganda and mislead the people.
“We must emphasise that the PDP is not, and has never been, interested in stopping the elections. We have stated this on multiple occasions. Our goal is not to stop the elections, which we have long agitated for, but we are duty-bound to ensure that LG elections are conducted freely, fairly, transparently and in accordance with all laid down rules.
“Now that the court has ruled, the PDP is bound by the decision and we are ready to compete in the elections with full confidence that the people of Kwara are solidly behind us.
“That said, we are fully aware of the plans and statements from certain quarters within the ruling party regarding their intentions to manipulate the election results. We have received reports of their intentions to write results ahead of the elections and prevent election materials from reaching polling units in some areas. There are even rumours that pre-thumb printed ballot papers are set to be stuffed into boxes on the day of elections.
“We want our security agencies to swing into action and increase their vigilance around KWASIEC as elections approach. The integrity of our electoral system must not be allowed to be bastardised by the anti-democratic elements who found themselves in public office.
“While it is clear that trust in the integrity of KWASIEC is low at the moment, we call on all well-meaning citizens to come out en masse and exercise their right to vote and stand firm by their votes. Let us show them that the people of Kwara are united and will not be deterred in their pursuit of justice and good governance at the local government level.”
