Rivers LG polls: Who may challenge results/process

BY JOSEPH ALIU

On Saturday, the chief electoral officer of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), Adolphus Enebeli, declared the results of the local government elections, with the Action People’s Party (APP) winning 22 chairmanship positions out of 23.

Whilst the declaration of the results was observed by members of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), chairmen of the state’s independent electoral bodies across the country, and members of the Nigerian Bar Association, voters and other citizens residing in Rivers have raised eyebrows as regards the whole election process.

It is important to note at this point that, whilst a number of persons may be aggrieved as regards the whole election process, the law provides for persons who may challenge the results and process of election, also with the grounds upon which they may be challenging the results/process. 

Invoking the letters of Section 133 (1), Electoral Act “An election may be presented by one or more of the following persons-

1. a) a candidate in an election; or
2. b) a political party which participated in the election.

Put simply, where an election has been calculated to not be the will of the masses, the persons who may bring an action to challenge the result are a candidate in the election and a political party who participated in the election. 

The above only means that even voters, bystanders, onlookers, and observers cannot institute or challenge the results in a competent court of jurisdiction. Going further, a political party which did not participate, means a political party which did not bring forth a candidate to compete in the election process. Such a political party cannot institute an action or challenge the election process.

Narrowing it down to the Rivers Local Government Elections, those who can challenge the election results are other Chairmanship candidates in the election and other political parties that participated in the election such as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressive Congress (APC) etc. 

It must be well understood that even where these persons above would want to challenge the elections process, it must be on one of the grounds provided for under our laws.

Section 134 (1) of the Electoral Act provides that; “An election may be questioned on any of the following grounds-

1. a) a person whose election is questioned was, at the time of the election, not qualified to contest the election;
2. b) the election was invalid by reason of corrupt practices or non-compliance with the provisions of the Act
3. c) the respondent was duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election.

Those who are not qualified to contest in an election as stated under section 134 (1) (a) above are those who are in breach of Sections 66, 107, 137 or 182 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

At this point, those who are aggrieved and are desirous of getting remedy in the just concluded Rivers local government election should put into consideration the above positions of law, rightly stated as they are condition precedent to bringing an action in court.

JOSEPH ALIU is a human rights activist, social commentator and legal series analyst @OgunwatchNG and can be reached via [email protected]