Abubakar Audu, APC’s governorship candidate in Kogi State died during the election
The ensuing actions following the demise of Abubakar Audu, the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Kogi state have once again exposed the urgent need for a comprehensive review of our constitution.
A recurring situation of discovering lacunas in our constitution is not good for our young democracy. At this rate, the quick fix approach we always adopt may soon eclipse our hard-earned democracy into extinction.
The major issue at stake in the ongoing Kogi gubernatorial elections has thrown up three possible lines of action for the electoral commission as well as the stakeholders.
• Substitution of the candidate by his party. (A line of action that has now been adopted by the INEC and favored by the APC)
• Fresh Elections (Favoured by Sentiments)
• Declare the runner-up as Winner (Favoured by Logic, the PDP and other Parties)
A cursory look at each of the above scenarios becomes necessary to appreciate its implication on our democracy.
SUBSTITUTION OF THE CANDIDATE BY THE APC
Proponents of this line of action have argued for its validity on a simple point; that the votes in an election belong to the party and not the candidate. But that is as far as the argument goes; there is no law in our books to back their position. By precedence, this option amounts to double standards because as recently as July 2015, the APC had to go through fresh by-elections to fill the vacancy created by the death of Senator Ahmed Zanna- APC senator representing Borno central constituency. Going by this position, shouldn’t they have simply substituted the demised Senator with the first runner-up in the Borno primaries, if the votes belong to a party?
The issue of whether votes are transferrable from the dead to the living has been dealt …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
