In spite of
court order, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has
continued with the recall process of Sen. Dino Melaye, saying that the
electoral body
could not be stopped from performing its constitutional duty.
According to
the Nation,
INEC on Monday pasted the notice of the verification of the recall process at
its Kogi state office.
Melaye,
representing Kogi West Senatorial District, is facing a recall by his
constituents who have filed a recall with signatures; the recall will run from
July 10 to August 19.
INEC decided
to continue with the process based on precedents and judicial pronouncements,
especially the Appeal Court judgement of 2001.
Mallam
Mohammed Haruna, National Commissioner of INEC in charge of North-Central, said
the Court of Appeal had since 2001 decided that a court cannot stop the recall
of a lawmaker.
The INEC
“Notice of Verification”, states: “In accordance with Section 69 of the
constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(As amended), notice is
hereby given that the verification for the recall of the member representing
Kogi West Senatorial District of Kogi State shall hold as follows:
“Date: 19th
August, 2017; Time: 8am-2pm; Location: All polling units in Kogi West
Senatorial District.”
A source
said: “If you look at the provision of Section 87(10) of the Electoral Act,
2010(As amended), which is applicable in this instance, INEC cannot be stopped
from doing its work of conducting election in any manner whatsoever.
“The
provision of Section 110 of the 1999 Constitution is actually explicit on the
recall. As an institution, INEC has nothing against Melaye or any lawmaker. We
are expected to follow the constitution and the Electoral Act. Implementing a
recall process is not a suicide mission for any lawmaker. If a lawmaker has the
backing of his or her constituents, the recall process will be dead on
arrival.”
Haruna said:
“We have a Court of Appeal judgement on why court cannot stop the process. This
judgment is dated back to 2001.
“Since there
is a subsisting Court of Appeal judgment, we will abide by it.”
The notice,
dated July 3rd, 2017, reads : “In exercise of the powers conferred on the
Independent National Electoral Commission(“the Commission”) by Sections 69 and
110 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999(as amended);
Section 116 of the Electoral Act 2010(as amended) and of all the powers
enabling it in that behalf, the Commission hereby issues this timetable
schedule of activities for the recall of the Senator representing Kogi West
Senatorial District, Kogi State.”
The details
of the timetable are as follows:
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