INEC Obeys Court Order, Shelves Supplementary Gov Election In Adamawa

The supplementary governorship election scheduled for March 23 in states where the March 9 governorship election was declared inclusive may not hold in Adamawa.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) gave this indication in Yola Wednesday when it said it would abide by a ruling of the Adamawa State high court expected on Thursday, March 21.

The Court had last week granted an injunction stopping the supplementary election but fixed March 21 for hearing of motion for the interlocutory injunction.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Adamawa State, Kassim Gaidam, said at a press briefing Thursday afternoon that although INEC had made preparation for the supplementary governorship election, the conduct of it would depend on the outcome of the court process on Thursday.

“As a law abiding institution, we will respect the ruling of the court on the supplementary election,” he said, adding however that the commission had assembled a body of lawyers headed by a senior advocate of Nigeria to push the position of the commission on the subject of the case.

INEC had earlier said it would not be subjected to a court process over the scheduled supplementary governorship election, which made Gaidam’s articulation of INEC’s new position surprising to many.

A Yola High Court on March 14 restrained INEC from conducting the March 23 supplementary governorship election in Adamawa.

The ruling by Justice Abdul-Aziz Waziri followed a request to that effect filed by counsel to the Adamawa Chapter of the Movement for the Restoration and Defence of Democracy (MRDD), Mustafa Shaba, over absence of the party logo on the ballot paper of the inconclusive election.

Delivering the rulinG, Justice Waziri, held that the request had merit. “The defendant herein, INEC, is restrained … from proceeding with the supplementary election in respect of Adamawa State Governorship pending the hearing and determination, which now comes up Thursday, March 21.

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