Court of Appeal knocks INEC for defending PDP, slams fines on electoral body

The Abuja division of the Court of Appeal has knocked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for being partisan in an electoral case.

According to Vanguard, the Court of Appeal maintained that the action of the electoral body is embarrassing as it acted in favour of a political party in an election matter, distancing itself from documents it issued and duly certified.

The court lamented that the electoral umpire had continued to “dance naked in the market” when it was supposed to take a neutral stand in an election dispute.

It warned that INEC must remain unbiased bearing in mind that any action it took has direct consequences on the peace and well-being of the nation. The court's statement reads in part:

“The role of INEC in election dispute should be limited to the tendering of all the documents used in an election and explaining what they were used for and how they were obtained."

Justice K. I. Amadi of the three-member panel of the court delivered the lead judgment on Friday, November 24.

In an unanimous decision, the court nullified the election of Abubakar Suleiman, the speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, whom INEC earlier announced as the winner of the Ningi Central Constituency in the state.

The court then declared the election inconclusive, voided the certificate of return issued to Suleiman and ordered a rerun in 10 polling units in the constituency.

INEC was then awarded the cost of N500,000 for its role in the election. The judgment followed the appeal filed by Khalid Abdulmalik-Ningi, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election.

In the poll, INEC announced Suleiman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner after scoring 16, 866 votes while Abdulmalik-Ningi of the APC garnered 15, 065 votes