ACN slams INEC, seeks fresh guber poll in Kogi

THE  Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has picked holes in the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, recognition of Captain Idris Wada as governor of Kogi State and called for fresh governorship election in the state.
It said the December 3, 2011 election that Wada won  was null and void, “having contravened the provision of Section 178(2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), based on the recent Supreme Court ruling on tenure elongation.”
In a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said neither the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) nor Wada, its candidate in that
election, could therefore take any benefit or right from the election.
It said: ’’The election into the office of Governor in Kogi State ought to have been conducted in April 2011 in accordance with Section 30 of Electoral Act 2010 (as amended). Since this was note done, December’s election cannot be said to have complied with the stipulations of the Act and the Constitution.”
ACN said Section 178 (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) states that ‘’An election into the office of Governor of a state shall be held on a date not earlier than 60 days and not later than 30 days
before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of that office.”
The party said the Supreme Court had now held that the tenure of the incumbent  governor of Kogi expired in May 2011 and that the seat of governor had become vacant, even though no election was conducted before the expiration of that tenure contrary to Section 178(2) of the Constitution.
It blamed INEC partly for the confusion that has now occurred in the state, in which two persons are claiming the governorship seat in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling.
It noted: “Though INEC issued a notice of election within the prescribed time sometime in January 2011, the election was conducted on December 3, 2011, a period of six months after the expiration of the term of the last holder of the office.”
“The election, however, cannot be deemed valid and constitutional, since an act or event will be valid and constitutional if it is done in accordance with the laid down procedure or law.

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