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The Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) has accredited the National
Assembly to monitor the forthcoming general elections.

The National
Assembly is listed as number 162 in a list of 313 domestic observer
groups approved by the electoral commission to monitor the polls
published on INEC’s website.

Most members of
the National Assembly are contestants in the first in the series of
elections scheduled for this Saturday. It is not clear how they will
double as monitors especially as INEC guidelines forbid candidates from
moving around polling units.

An INEC staff, who
did not want his name mentioned because he has no authority to speak
for the commission, said incumbent lawmakers might hide under NASS
accredition units to roam polling stations, and possibly commit
electoral fraud.

But David Asemo of
INEC’s Election Monitoring and Observation Unit, in a telephone
interview, said it was members of the National Assembly’s Research and
Documentation Department that were approved as observers, and not the
legislators vying for election.

“It is not the
National Assembly legislators. It is the management headed by the Clerk
of the National Assembly who is the administrative head of the National
Assembly that applied, and they met all the criteria. You can go and
verify,” Mr. Asemo said.

Mr. Asemo however
refused disclosing which criteria were used in accrediting the National
Assembly members, stating “those are administrative details, which I
can’t tell you.”

When contacted,
INEC’s spokesperson, Kayode Idowu, requested some time to confirm the
commission had indeed accredited the National Assembly as an observer.
In a subsequent conversation, he also said only National Assembly staff
were accredited.

“It is the staff
and not the legislators. Different groups applied, just like we have
journalist groups who also applied to be observers. It does not mean
the legislators themselves are the observers,” Mr Idowu said.

He however could
not state which criteria were used in selecting the National Assembly
staff, as he said he was unable to locate the document having the
details.

But a human rights
activist, Bamidele Aturu, says it is “an affront on democratic
principles” for the National Assembly to be given observation rights
considering many of the legislative members have vested interest in the
elections.

“It is funny and
strange because these members are politicians either contesting
directly or supporting one candidate or the other in the elections. It
makes a mockery of election monitoring and observation,” Mr. Aturu said.

He added that such
an “undue privilege” might allow the National Assembly staff to move
around freely on election days to the advantage of select politicians,
and the detriment of other Nigerians.

“This same staff of the National Assembly have close contact with
these politicians. I think it is undue privilege because other
Nigerians can’t move around on election day. How do we know they won’t
act in favour of them? I think it is strange this is happening. It
should be left with civil society organisations to handle and not the
National Assembly which is a government institution,” Mr. Aturu said.

A Federal High
Court in Abuja yesterday, dismissed an application for stay of
execution of judgment by former Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Mr. Aminu Bello Masari seeking to halt the judgement
of the court which stopped him from contesting the governorship
position of Katsina State under the Congress for Progressive Change
(CPC) in the April election.

Presiding judge
Abdul Kafarati also affirmed its earlier judgement that Senator Yakubu
Garba Lado is the authentic candidate of the CPC in Katsina State as
well as the candidature of 43 other candidates contesting for the
Senate, Federal and State Houses of Assembly in the state.

Mr. Kafarati had,
on February 25, 2011 ordered the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) not to recognize any other candidate for the Katsina
state governorship position under the CPC other than Lado.

Senator Lado and
his running mate, Abdulaziz Yar’adua had gone to court seeking an order
to restrain INEC from accepting Mr. Masari; the senator claimed that he
won the primary election and should have been presented instead of Mr.
Masari.

Mr. Lado wants the
court to mandate the submission of no other candidate except him to
INEC as the party’s governorship candidate for the state for the April
2011 election.

Specifically, he
wants the court to mandate the electoral body to accept only him as the
candidate of the party at the 2011 general elections for which they won
their party primaries.

The aggrieved
Senator who led 44 other members of the party told the court to
restrain the electoral body from accepting any other candidates apart
from them as the candidates of the party for the April governorship
election in Katsina state.

Kafarati, in his
judgment held that CPC has no option than to submit Senator Lado’s name
to INEC as its authentic governorship candidate for the Katsina State
governorship election in April.

He dismissed the
defendants’ preliminary objection, said Lado’s action was properly
brought before the court, that the plaintiffs have reasonable cause of
action as they are the authentic candidate of the party in Katsina
State.

The former speaker
and the CPC had filed an objection to Lado’s suit on the ground that
the way and manner a party elects or nominates its candidate for any
elective position is an internal affair of the party and that the court
lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

But, Kafarati, in
his judgement said with the 1999 constitution of the federal republic
of Nigeria as amended, the election or nomination of party’s candidate
ceases to be solely an internal affairs of the party because the
amended constitution provides that any aggrieved member of the party
can sue if the process for electing or nominating the party’s candidate
violate the party guidelines and the Electoral Act which are tailored
in line with the constitution of the country.

Furthermore he held
that the defendants failed woefully to bring any documentary evidence
before the court to show that there was another governorship primary
election held by the party where Masari was elected.

Masari has gone
before the Abuja Court of Appeal challenging Kafarati’s judgment which
held in his judgment delivered on February 25, 2011 that Lado is the
authentic gubernatorial candidate of the CPC in Katsina State.

In a motion on
notice filed through his counsel, John Baiyeshea , Masari is seeking an
order of injunction restraining Lado and the 44 others who filed the
initial suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja, their agents or
privies from giving effect to the Judgment delivered by Justice Abdul
Kafarati pending the hearing and determination of his appeal before the
Appeal Court.

In an affidavit in
support of the motion, Masari said he, the party and its Chairman,
Prince Tony Momoh are dissatisfied with the judgment, as a result of
which thousands of supporters and sympathizers have resolved not to
vote for the party in the forthcoming general election in Katsina.

He also said he won the primary election which held on January 13,
2011 and it was duly declared by the relevant committee which conducted
the election.

Jonathan Shakarho,
a Justice of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, has awarded N10 million
damages against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for
attempting to forcefully seal off the private residence of former Ekiti
State governor, Ayodele Fayose.

Men of the
commission had created a scene at the former governor’s house on
September 29, 2010 when they were mobilised to forcefully eject the
occupants and seal it off.

It took the
resistance of some of Mr Fayose’s family members, who also reside in
the house located within the Government’s Reservation Area (GRA),
Iyaganku Quarters, Ibadan, to save the day.

The former Ekiti
State governor thereafter approached the court to seek redress and
enforcement of his fundamental human rights. He prayed the court for an
order confirming and enforcing his fundamental rights to fair hearing,
dignity of human person, liberty, private and family life and to own
immovable property; an order restraining the respondent from issuing
misleading press statements or publishing the picture of the house in
the media; N50 million damages and any other order the court may deem
fit.

EFCC was obeying orders

In an 18-paragraph
affidavit in support of the prayers, the applicant alleged that the
EFCC officials intruded in his family’s privacy and also published the
picture of the building in print media.

He also averred
that the EFCC’s attempt to seal off the building claiming it was an
order of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi was a lie. Mr Fayose said the
EFCC was acting the political vendetta script authored from the Ekiti
State government house through a letter dated September 20, 2010.

But the
commission, in a 16-paragraph counter affidavit, said it only acted on
the order given by Tijani Abubakar of Federal High Court, Ikoyi which
empowered it to seal off the premises.

According to the
EFCC, its office had been inundated with several petitions on Mr
Fayose’s alleged misdemeanour while still serving as the governor in
2005.

The allegations, it
added, have to do with abuse of office, money laundering, corrupt
practices and stealing of government funds especially money obtained
through Biological Concept Nigeria Limited.

The EFCC said it
was short of prosecuting the former governor because of the immunity he
enjoyed then as one Gbenga James and some other persons arraigned in
2006 over similar offences mentioned his name as accomplice, adding
that it later amended the charges to include his name after his
impeachment by the Ekiti State House of Assembly.

It further stated
that it had pasted the said order on Mr Fayose’s house immediately
after its issuance in 2006, together with the sealing notice, only for
the former governor to go behind and “unseal the properties, removed
the order and moved into them without the permission or authorisation
of the respondent of the Federal Government of Nigeria.”

The Judge’s verdict

In his judgement
delivered on Wednesday, Mr Shakarho posited that the commission must
take full responsibility of the wrongful act carried out by his men on
the day in question and ordered it to pay N10 million for damages.

According to him,
the act is tantamount to “malicious embarrassment” to the former
governor since there was no order of the court to forfeit his property
to the Federal Government.

He also gave an
order to restrain the commission, his agents, privies or anyone or
organisation acting on its behalf from further issuing “misleading
press statements, publishing pictures of the applicant’s residence and
or procuring the release of any misleading information in the print
media, in any manner.” The presiding judge equally restrained the EFCC
from sealing off the said property or from engaging in any manner of
infringement Mr Fayose’s fundamental and constitutional rights.

The Federal High
Court in Abuja has cleared the governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime,
as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the
state.

The court dismissed
a suit filed by governorship candidate of the Platform Party, Anayo
Onwuegbu, on the ground that it constitutes an abuse of court process.

Judge Abdul
Kafarati ruled that the PDP has already submitted the name of Mr Chime
as its candidate for the election contrary to the claim of the
plaintiff, Mr Onwuegbu.

The court also ordered the defendants to file their counter affidavit against the plaintiff’s claim within the next two days.

Mr Kafarati also
resolved the issue of jurisdiction in favour of the plaintiff, saying
that the court has jurisdiction to hear his case and adjourned the
matter till February 23 for hearing.

The commission had
on February 14, told the court to vacate the interim order restraining
it from giving recognition to Mr Chime as the governorship candidate of
PDP in Enugu State.

INEC told the
court through its lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu, that if the interim order
was not vacated, it may affect the chances of the party fielding a
gubernatorial candidate for the scheduled April general elections in
Enugu State.

The order of the
court, handed down on January 31, had also stopped PDP from submitting
Mr Chime’s name to the INEC as its candidate for the said poll pending
the hearing and determination of the suit filed by the plaintiff and 38
other contestants challenging Mr Chime’s candidacy.

Even though the
court ordered the PDP not to submit the list of its candidates for
Enugu State to INEC, the party had last Monday informed the court that
it had already sent Mr Chime’s name to INEC before the order was made.

The party, which
was represented in court by its national legal adviser, Olusola Oke,
equally urged the judge to set aside the restraining order, contending
that the high court lacks the jurisdiction to stop an already perfected
act.

It argued that it
forwarded the name of Mr Chime alongside other candidates vying for
various positions in the state to INEC on January 17, for publication
before the restraining order was made.

In dismissing the
suit filed by the Onwuegbu and his running mate, Ogbu, Mr Kafarati
noted that the issue in question is subject matter of litigation in
another court.

Mr. Kafarati said the suit lacks merit and accordingly dismissed it.