Just in: INEC set to conduct supplementary election in Bauchi despite court order
- Despite court order, INEC has said it will go ahead with the rerun election in Bauchi
- The electoral umpire said the judgement only applied to Tafawa Balewa local government area
- APC governorship candidate had secured a court injunction stopping INEC from announcing the result of Tafawa Balewa LGA
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has vowed to proceed with its plan to conduct the supplementary elections in Bauchi on Saturday, March 23, despite an earlier court order barring it from doing so.
Premium Times reports that the electoral commission made the disclosure on Thursday, March 21, at a press briefing by its spokesperson, Festus Okoye, in Abuja.
Commenting on the commission's readiness for the Saturday's election, Okoye disclosed that the decision to proceed with the Bauchi rerun election was informed by the fact that the judgement only applied to Tafawa Balewa local government area in Bauchi state.
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Recall that the governorship election held in Tafawa Balewa local government, on Saturday, March 9, was rejected at the collation centre by INEC after its result sheet was destroyed by people suspected to be hoodlums.
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bala Mohammed, was leading before the election was declared inconclusive by INEC.
However, the guber candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi state, Mohammed Abubakar, had also secured a court injunction stopping INEC from announcing the result of the local government.
INEC has hereby promised to abide by the court ruling, but vowed to continue with its supplementary election in other local government areas where election process were affected.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that the PDP petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC) over alleged violation of the Constitution and Electoral Act by Justice Ekwo Inyang of the Federal High Court on Bauchi governorship result collation.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, March 20, by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the main opposition party said that Justice Inyang violated the electoral law for ruling on a matter that ought to have been handled by an election petition tribunal.
The party noted that in granting an exparte order stopping the INEC from concluding the governorship election in Bauchi state, Justice Inyang violated Section 87(11) of the Electoral Act.
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Source: Legit.ng
