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The Labour Party has warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against going ahead with the fresh governorship election in Adamawa State this Saturday, April 26, given that a case about that election is before the Supreme Court.
The Labour Party has warned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against going ahead with the fresh governorship election in Adamawa State this Saturday, April 26, given that a case about that election is before the Supreme Court.
The Labour Party had, on April 15, filed a Notice of Appeal at the Supreme Court to challenge the decision of the Court of Appeal in Kaduna, which held that only candidates who ran in the nullified election of April 14, 2007 can contest in the ordered fresh election, thus denying the party a right to field a candidate of its choice in the fresh election.
In an open letter to the Chairman of INEC, Professor Maurice Iwu, the Chairman of the Labour Party, Barrister Dan Nwanyanwu, warned the Commission that going ahead with the fresh governorship election in Adamawa this Saturday would amount to a violation of one of the principles of the rule of law.
"Our Party has the constitutional and statutory right to duly participate in the said fresh/bye election by fielding a candidate of our choice, and we shall ventilate this right until we are finally vindicated by the law courts," Barrister Nwayanwu said in the letter, which was dated April 21, 2008.
According to the Labour Party, there was no way INEC could claim ignorance of its appeal at the Supreme Court, as copies of the said Appeal and the Records of Appeal have been served on the commission.
"We wish to warn, with due respect, that proceeding with the proposed election in the face of the pending appeal before the Supreme Court will amount to offend the doctrine of lis pendente", the party stated, and cited the case of Peter Obi vs. INEC where the Supreme Court had cautioned the commissio against going ahead with an election in the face of such litigation, as the whole exercise might be result in a huge waste.
"Your Commsission will also note that proceeding with your proposed election fixed on 26th April 2008 without allowing our party to participate in the proposed election by fielding our own candidate will amount to unlawful exclusion and will result in the said election being impeached once again", Nwanyanwu stated
It could be recalled that following the nullification of the election of former Governor Murtala Nyako, the Labour Party had gone to court to appeal a clause in the verdict which ruled that no party can substitute its candidate in the fresh election since it was a continuation of the cancelled polls.
However in its notice of appeal at the Supreme Court, filed by the its lawyer, Chief Chris Uche (SAN) the party is arguing that the justices of the Appeal Court erred in law on two grounds.
The first ground is that the justices erred in holding that the fresh election ordered is a re-run, and not a bye-election, thus denying the party the right to nominate and sponsor a candidate of its choice.
The second ground is that the justices erred in holding that whenever there is a nullification of a general election and a fresh election is ordered to be held, only the candidates who contested in the nullified election can contest the fresh election.