Malami: Postponing Zamfara election is APC’s right — not a favour

Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation, says postponing the Zamfara elections is a right of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and not a favour.

Malami said this while responding to the reports on the letter he wrote to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the elections in Zamfara.

In a statement which Salihu Isah, his spokesman, issued on his behalf on Thursday, the attorney-general said he did not ask the commission to postpone the election in the state but only asked INEC to comply with the directive of the appeal court.

Malami said since the court of appeal confirmed that the APC in the state held primary elections, section 38 and 39 of the Electoral Act empowered the commission to postpone the election.

“The attention of the Office of the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has been drawn to a recent publication by certain social media and conventional news outlets stating that this Office had purportedly requested the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the elections in Zamfara State,” the statement read.

“In our letter dated February 13, 2019 addressed to the INEC Chairman, the Honourable Attorney of the Federation in reacting to a petition from M.A Mahmud informing this Office of the subsisting Court of Appeal decision in CA/S/22/2019 which effectively upheld the APC primaries in Zamfara state, wrote to INEC informing them of this development and requested the Commission to comply by extending the time within which the political party candidate in the Gubernatorial elections.

“In view of the fact, now that the Court of Appeal has upheld the primaries as valid, the APC in Zamfara State will need a little time to catch up with its contemporaries in the election.

“Granting them this concession is not necessarily a favour but a right that inures to all contestants under similar circumstances.

“Consequent on the above, INEC is invited to comply with the judgement of the Court of Appeal by admitting the results of the APC Zamfara State Primaries and to also comply with the provisions of Section38 of the Electoral Act which empowers INEC to postpone the election for the governorship, National Assembly and House of Assembly Elections.”