Lawan, Akpabio, Tambuwal, Others to Face Jail Terms? INEC Speaks
- The independent national electoral commission (INEC) says it is criminal for a politician to obtain two forms during an election
- This was made known by the electoral body's commission in Akwa Ibom, Mike Igini on Tuesday, July 19
- According to the commissioner, the punishment for the violation of such rule as contained in the new Electoral Act of 2022 is a two years jail term
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The trio of Senate President Ahmad Lawan, Senator Godswill Akpabio and Governor Aminu Tambuwal is on the brink of being caught in between the jaws of the law.
According to a DailyTrust report, what these politicians have in common is that they all obtained more than one nomination form at the just concluded primary elections.
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Legit.ng gathered that the trio and other politicians who fall in this category are likely to serve a two years jail term for violating one of the stipulations of the new Electoral Act, 2022.
What the Electoral Law says
Elaborating on this issue, the Akwa Ibom state resident electoral commissioner, Mike Igini on Tuesday, July 19 told Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily that the actions of these politicians violate Section 115 (D) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
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He was quoted saying:
“A person who signs a nomination paper or result form as a candidate in more than one constituency at the same election [commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum term of imprisonment for two years].”
As gathered by Legit.ng, the stipulations of section 115 (D) of the new Electoral Act of 2022 hold that no person shall sign, or obtain more than one form as a candidate for different elections.
In furtherance of that section, Igini explained that the punishment for the violator of section 115 (D) will be two years imprisonment.
The commissioner said:
“Some people are claiming that they participated in one election, that they filled two forms; it’s ignorance of the law and it’s not an excuse.
“We are preventing them from being candidates for prison and they are calling our names everywhere."
While reeling out facts about the antecedents of the primary elections, Igini disclosed that the primary election for the senatorial seat of Akwa Ibom North-West, which produced Senator Godswill Akpabio as the APC candidate was never monitored by INEC.
This was after Senator Akpabio withdrew from the presidential race of the APC on the day of the primary election.
Meanwhile, at the senatorial level, a primary election had been organised prior to the presidential primaries and Udom Ekpoudom emerged as the winner of the Akwa Ibom North-west senatorial ticket.
Similarly, a parallel primary poll was staged and Ekperikpe Ekpo emerged the winner. His joy was later cut short when the party announced that there were irregularities in the previous election.
This gave birth to a rerun conducted on June 8 and Senator Godswill Akpabio participated and won.
Lawan vs Machina for Yobe North
Meanwhile, in the case of Senate President Ahmed Lawan, he lost woefully in the presidential primaries of the APC.
Elsewhere in the senatorial district of Senator Lawan, a certain Bashir Machina emerged winner of the APC primaries for the Yobe North senatorial district.
The outcome of both primary elections meant that Senator Lawan's 23 years stay in the national assembly was over.
Lawan asked Machina to vacate his mandate and give it to him, a request Machina vehemently refused.
It is believed that Lawa and Akpabio behind the scenes must have secretly obtained their senatorial forms while seeking to be the presidential flag bearer of the ruling party, APC.
Meanwhile, the INEC commissioner in Akwa Ibom reeled names of other politicians to have violated the provisions of the new Electoral Act of 2022.
He said the likes of Governors Ben Ayade of Cross River State and Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State complete the lists of violators.
Lawan out, Machina in, as INEC concludes controversy over Yobe North APC senatorial seat
In a sequel to Lawam and Machina's squabble for the Yobe North senatorial seat, INEC issued its final verdict.
In INEC's decision, Senate President Lawan was dropped as the senatorial candidate of APC Yobe North.
As contained in the document issued by INEC, Bashir Sheriff Machina was recognises as the true candidate of the ruling party for the senatorial seat in Yobe.
Source: Legit.ng
