By Kula Tersoo, Makurdi
The recent attempts by the Prof. Attahiru Jega led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to do an emergency reverse gear and conduct fresh elections into a disputed Buruku federal constituency seat in Benue state with a pending litigation at the Supreme Court has continued to generate sordidly suspicion on the interest of the commission in the matter.
The Supreme Court had on the 30th May 2014 sacked Hon. Orker Jev of the All Progressive Congress (APC) on the grounds that the rightful candidate for the party was Mr. Sekav Iortyom who must be featured by his party in a fresh polls to fill the vacuum within 90 days.
The umpire body, following the court order, had fixed 23rd August 2014 for fresh polls but later suspended same citing a pending motion at the Supreme Court that was served on them as the reason.
Secretary of the commission , Mrs.Augusta C.Ogakwu stated in a release that, “The suspension is sequel to a motion on Notice served on the commission from the Supreme Court urging the court to set aside it’s order on the independent National Electoral Commission to conduct fresh election in Buruku federal constituency”.
The Buruku seat became a subject of litigation barely a month to the conduct of the 2011 Federal House of Representatives elections. Mr. Sekav Iortyom dragged Hon. Orker Jev, the incumbent to court challenging the ticket handed him (Jev ) by their party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) now All Progressive Congress (APC).
The matter, perhaps, an intra-party and pre-election case, that neither the country’s constitution and electoral law have no stipulated time limit for deciding it, dragged on from the lower courts up to the country’s apex court. The case was finally decided by the Supreme Court on the the 30the May 2014, exactly three years after the case was filed.
But newspaper reports quoting the Resident Electoral Commissioner in charge of Benue state have suggested that the Commission must have yielded pressure from some powerful forces and is concluding plans to damn the court case, stand its earlier decision on the head and conduct the elections.
REC Alhaji Yusuf Baba confirmed while speaking to Blueprint on Phone from his Maidugeri home that he indeed heard that the matter was resolved and they were free to conduct the polls but was yet to receive official communication from the Headquarters.
Curiously, since the beginning of the matter, and while it lingered, INEC led by Prof. Attahiru Jega consistently played a role that was observed by many as unbecoming of an umpire.
For instance, it was alleged amongst other things that while the case was pending at the Federal High Court, Makurdi, the Chairman of the Commission, Prof Attahiru Jega had unilaterally signed and issued a Certificate of Return to Hon. Sekav Iortyom when there was no court order to that effect. The said certificate of return worsened the matter as the Buruku Federal Constituency had two certificates of return at a point.
Though Iortyom got two consistent judgement victories both at the High Court and Appeal Court in Makurdi, records had shown that Jev had accordingly appealed same verdicts at the Supreme Court and also sought an injunction restraining INEC from issuing a certificate of return to his opponent. But INEC which later confirmed service of both the appeal and motion on notice on them again went ahead and issued a certificate of return, duly signed by the Chairman, Prof. Jega to Iortyom.
Findings indicates that but for the alert and forthrightness of the Green Chamber’s leadership, again, two persons would have been claiming who takes salaries, allowances and constituency projects for one constituency seat.
The development has indeed raised some fundamental questions that are begging for answer.
Firstly, now that time has become sacrosanct in electoral matters as court pronouncements have indicated and both the Constitution and the Electoral Act that governs the activities of INEC has shown, is it within the purview of the Commission or that of the Chairman to conduct elections at will?
Also, the apex Court had ordered the conduct of the election within 90 days into the Buruku Federal Constituency on May 30, 2014. The 90 days have since lapsed by effluxion of time. Therefore, is there any justification for INEC to order the conduct of any election after the expiration of the Supreme Court order?
Furthermore, it was INEC that while suspending the August 23rd elections stated in its release that they have a standing tradition that once a litigation notice(s) is served on them and they join issues, they suspend action on such matter. Now that records available have shown that the said Motion on Notice filed on June 18, 2014 by Hon. Sekav Dzua Iortyom, which prompted the suspension of the election is still pending, what is there at stake to warrant a change of mind by the Commission?
A soci-political group in the country, Democracy and Justice Initiative (DJI) has already petitioned Prof. Jega over the matter warning him not to allow himself to be used by mischievous politicians to cause crises in the country and constituency in particular.
In a statement signed by John Adoyi Odoga andTerngu Msuega, Executive Director and Secretary respectively, the organization accused Governor Gabriel Suswam and Mr. Iyorchia Ayu ” who always boast that Jega was his boy during their ASUU days” of manipulating and inducing the INEC boss to tow a sordid path.
While litigations continue to force postponement of elections into the constituency, the Buruku seat, vacated by Orker Jev since 30th May 2014 remains empty. The people of Buruku are indeed missing a great deal since deliberations, allocation of constituency projects and other business in the chambers cannot wait for them.
A constituent who is a civil servant and preferred not to be named said that what is happening in the constituency is a typical case of “when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers”, insisting that it is unfortunate that the show of might is only displayed by elites at home while Tiv nation continue to suffer unending suppression and manipulations even by minority tribes in the country.
“I became sick when Ayu came here and stood in a public gathering boasting that he played a leading role to make our seat vacant. Ayu is not from this constituency. Even his constituency is been represented by an APC person. Why did he choose to come cause this problem for us? How about his place?” he posed.
Commenting on the matter, especially as it bothered on the time elapsed on the court order, a legal luminary, Dr. Aember J I insisted that laws and court orders are meant to be respected and not for mere pronouncements.
He said, “When a court pronounces an order, it stands to be obeyed by all parties. Anything to the contrary must be sorted out inline with the law by the same court in case of the Supreme Court or higher court in case of lower courts”.
More disturbing is that with joining of issues in the matter by INEC and yet another motion by Mr. Terfa Tyav, candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) seeking to be joined in the motion brought by Iortyom, the Supreme Court is yet to fix a date for any.
With the time elapse for the court order, should a party in the matter challenges INEC’s authority concerning the order and timing, the people of Buruku may have to continue waiting for Godot.