The Federal Government yesterday asked a Federal high court sitting in Abuja to issue an order stopping the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from postponing the forthcoming general elections scheduled to hold in April on account of the death of the Alliance for Democracy�s presidential candidate, Chief Adebayo Adefarati.
The government is also praying the court to nullify Section 37 (1) of the Electoral Act 2006 which empowers the INEC boss to postpone election in the event a nominated candidate dies before the general election holds.
The government is inviting the court to hold that the portion of the Electoral law is inconsistent with the provision of the 1999 constitution and to that extent null and void.
Chief Adefarati breathed his last on Thursday at the Federal Medical Centre, Owo and his death had fuelled anxiety that the general election might be postponed by INEC.
Moments after his death, strong feelers emerged that some people had concluded arrangements to go to court for procurement of its order stopping INEC from holding the election as scheduled in view of the provision of section 37 (1) of the 1999 constitution.
Section 37 of the Electoral Act 2006 provides: �If after the time for the delivery of nomination paper and before the commencement of the poll, a nominated candidate dies, the Chief National Electoral Commissioner or the Resident Electoral Commissioner shall, being satisfied of the fact of the death, countermand the poll in which the deceased candidate was to participate and the commission shall appoint some other convenient date for the election.�
But before any individual or corporate person could approach the court, the Federal Government through the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation yesterday lodged an originating summons before the registry of the high court seeking a community interpretation of section 37 (1) of the Electoral Act 2006 and section 135 (2) and 180 (2) of the 1999 constitution.
By the writ, the government is begging the court to declare that INEC Chairman, Prof Maurice Iwu, can neither bow to pressures nor exercise any discretion, postponing the election because section 37 (1) of the Electoral Act 2006 which so empowered him is inconsistent with the provisions of the 1999 constitution and therefore illegal, null and void.
In the suit which has INEC as defendant, the Federal Government formulated two fundamental cum constitutional issues including:
*Whether section 37 (1) of the Electoral Act which mandatorily empowers the Chief National Electoral Commissioner or the Resident Electoral Commissioner to countermand any poll in which a nominated candidate dies before the assigned date of election to some other convenient date is not inconsistent with sections 135 (2) and 180 (20) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.
lWhether death of any nominated candidate for any poll is contemplated by the 1999 Constitution as a ground to shift or postpone any such poll.
Should the court, after arguments, answer in the affirmative, one or both questions in favour of the Federal Government, it is begging the court to grant the following two declaratory and one injunctive reliefs in his favour:
*A declaration that section 37 (1) of the Electoral Act 2006 is inconsistent with sections 132 (20, 135 (2), 178 (2) and 180 (2) of the Constitution of the 1999 Constitution and is therefore null and void to the extent of its inconsistency.
*A declaration that it will be unconstitutional for INEC to shift or postpone the date of any poll on the grounds of death of any nominated candidate(s) for such a poll.
*An order of mandatory injunction compelling INEC to keep to the election time table for the 2007 elections to be organized by INEC.
Already the case has been assigned to Justice Binta Nyako and is scheduled to come up for mention next Tuesday, April 3.
Giving further background information on why it came to court, the Federal Government in a 15-paragraph accompanying affidavit sworn to by Mr. Salman Salman, said that the death of the AD�s presidential flag bearer had started to agitate the minds of right thinking Nigerian electorate as to what effect it would have on the presidential election scheduled to hold on 21st April, 2007.
Paragraph 11 of the affidavit reads, �That I know that by virtue of the constitution, scheduled elections to the offices of President or Governor must hold except when the Federation is at war in which the territory of Nigeria is physically involved and the President considers it not practicable to hold elections.
�Such a situation as envisaged and referred to in paragraph 11 above does not exist in the country.
�That if INEC should reschedule the presidential election slated for 21st April, 2007, it will no longer be able to comply with the constitutional provision that mandatorily requires that the elections to the offices of president and also of governor be conducted not later that 30 days before the expiration of the tenure of office of the last holders of the offices,� the affidavit added.