The action of the leadership of the APC to substitute candidates that participated in the primary and were duly elected with candidates that never participated in the election is funny and at the same time worrisome and goes to show how far our political system has degenerated and how much party leaders and politicians conduct their affairs illegally with so much impunity, fundamental disregard to the rule of law and moral decadence/ ineptitude.
It is also troublesome that INEC which is expected to be an unbiased umpire has been playing to the gallery and dancing to the tune of illegality churned out by these political parties.
If a political party can foist a candidate on the people then nobody should ever publicly claim that Nigeria is a democratic nation because it will be a slap on countries that are practicing democracy in the strict sense of it.
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Participating in an election is testing your popularity and to know if you are the peoples’ choice, if you win the election it is then presumed that the people have chosen you over other persons to represent them, that’s what democracy is all about but when an impostor who did not participate in the election is being foisted or imposed on the people it becomes a fundamental departure of what democracy portends. It is impunity of the highest order and total disregard for the electoral laws.
If INEC ever did accept the names of candidates forwarded to them by APC to replace the names of other candidates who have participated in the primary election it will amount to a total breach of the law, and things like this will make INEC lose the last strand of credibility that is still dangling by their cloak.
The act of the current leadership of the APC of trying to foist someone who never participated in the primary election is worrisome, it shows how far these men could go in breaking the law in order to achieve their selfish interests. This act of the National leadership of the APC is scary, they are only painting a picture that their personal and selfish choice can always stand over and trump the choice of the people. It shows they can foist a person in any position even if that person has not been duly elected or competent enough to occupy the position. It’s painting a picture of how far these people can go in breaking the laws in order to win the upcoming election at all levels. God forbid.
political parties and the electoral umpire should instead strive to rebuild the already diminished confidence and trust in the electorate so as to help democracy thrive in this nation. Acts like this reinforce political “i don’t care” amongst the electorate because they believe that their votes don’t count. Party leadership and INEC should not collaborate on this already formed opinion of the masses, it won’t end well.
For democracy to thrive, transparency must be adhered to, obedience to the rule of law must be paramount, the voice of the people which is the voice of God must be listened to and the voice of the people must supersede the voice of a single person no matter who that person is.
The act of APC leadership over the past weeks is unlawful as INEC cannot accept the name of a candidate that did not participate in a primary election in line with the provisions of Sections 31 and 33 of the Electoral Act 2022.
If a party wants to substitute a candidate, that substitution must be done in accordance with the provisions of the law. There are specific grounds that have been laid down for substitution of candidates after the primary election have been conducted as clearly provided in Sections 31 and 33 of the Electoral Act, and these are; voluntary withdrawal by the candidate who has been elected or the death of the candidate. These are the only situations where a candidate who has been duly elected can be substituted.
When a candidate withdraws or dies, a fresh primary election must mandatorily be conducted by the party to get a replacement. This is the unambiguous current position of the law.
Anything done by INEC or party leaders which is not in correspondence with these provisions is unlawful and only breeding a safe haven for pre and post-election lawsuits.