We adverted the mind of the court to the fact that, nothing in the Electoral Law 2007 stops BSIEC from doing so, and it will be in the public interest to do so—as the court has the power to make this order—to avoid litigations as this in the future, which seem to be reoccurring often.
Today, our lawyers filed our reply to the counter-affidavit filed by Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) on 22 May in the matter of Sesugh Akume v Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC) (with suit number MHC/449/2024),ahead of 27 June fixed for adoption of the written notices and following which will be the judgement.
In this suit, we ask the court to compel BSIEC to conduct local government elections on time ready for the incoming administrations to be sworn in on 29 June when the term of the current officials ends. And to declare that failure to conduct elections as and when due violates section 7(1) and (4) of the Constitution. (Section 7(1) of the Constitution says only democratically-elected local government councils are recognised in Nigeria. Section 7(4) says state electoral bodies as BSIEC must ensure that eligible voters are presented regularly with the opportunity to vote and be voted for in local government elections.)
In the BSIEC reply served on us on 23 May, it asserted that it has not violated section 7(1) and (4) of the Constitution, that we are only in May and the handover date is on 29 June so there is nothing to complain about, and that the court can only be called upon to address a wrong that is done. It also said that the Electoral Law or Electoral Act referred to in our suit is unknown to them, what is known is the BSIEC (Amendment) Law 2012, and the Electoral Law (Amendment) Law 2012.That we have not shown any special rights or circumstances that we have over others who are not complaining to warrant the grant of the application.
In response, our lawyers stated that section 36 of the Constitution says not only when a wrong is done can the courts be called upon but also when wrong is about to be committed. Normally, elections are conducted long ahead of the handover date. With 29 June around the corner and no evidence whatsoever of BSIEC has organised, is organising, or intends to organise the elections, there is cause to ask the court to compel them to do so to avoid a violation of the Constitution.
Also that the citation ‘Electoral Law 2007’ is accurate, and any appearance of ‘Electoral Act 2007’in our court papers is merely a clerical error, which is regretted. That the correct citation of the law BSIEC referred to is ‘Electoral Act 2007 (Amendment) Law 2012’ meaning that the 2012 law is only but an amendment law of the principal law the Electoral Act 2007, and not a new law of its own. And further that, in any case, assuming without conceding that a wrong law was cited, it changes nothing as the law is clear that ‘a false description does not vitiate a statute’, provided that it has been described sufficiently. They further stated that bringing up technicalities to defeat substantive justice is something the courts have long jettisoned and strongly frown at.
Lastly, that the courts have held repeatedly that any person has the unfettered access and the constitutional right to them to ventilate on any grievance and referred the court to the cases of Amadi v NNPC (2000), Idris v Agumagu (2015), and others. No one, therefore, need to have or show any ‘special rights or circumstances’ nor must others be complaining before one may approach the courts over an infraction.
Furthermore, that in the case of Olumide Babalola v AGF (2018) the court held that any person, be it a natural or artificial person, may approach the court for constitutional interpretation. This position was sealed by the Supreme Court in the landmark matter of Centre for Oil Production Watch v NNPC (2019). This is apart from the fact that I am a registered voter in Benue (with a copy of my voter’s card tendered before the court) and whose right to vote and/or be voted for is being toyed with by BSIEC.
Considering that this matter comes up for hearing on 27 June (after which will there will be the judgement on another date) and the handover date is 29 June, it will be unrealistic to order BSIEC to conduct local government elections before the hand over date, therefore, we respectfully moved the court to deploy a purposive interpretation to the constitutional and statutory provisions before it and in the circumstances of this case order BSIEC to immediately conduct local government elections; to henceforth conduct local government elections not less than three months to the expiration of the term of the officials in office and to publish precise election timetables not less than three months to the date set for elections (which shall be not less than three months to the expiration of the term of the officials in office).And, a further order for it to immediately publish an electoral calendar for local government elections in Benue 2026–2046.
We adverted the mind of the court to the fact that, nothing in the Electoral Law 2007 stops BSIEC from doing so, and it will be in the public interest to do so—as the court has the power to make this order—to avoid litigations as this in the future, which seem to be reoccurring often. (To be sure, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did the same since 2022 covering at least twenty years.)
It is sad that I was the applicant in the matter of Sesugh Akume v Governor of Benue & 4 Others (MHC/182/2019) wherein we asked the court to compel BSIEC to conduct local government elections, among other prayers. As the matter was ongoing, local government elections were held with the officials sworn in June 2020, and from then on there had been an unbroken handover from one elected local government administration to the other until now. We pleaded with the court that repeatedly going to court to compel BSIEC to carry out its constitutional and statutory mandate is a waste of time, energy and other resources and it means after twenty-five years of uninterrupted civil rule since 1999, we have not grown nor learnt anything or weaned ourselves from the military hangover; and solemnly urged the court to use its enormous power to permanently end this retrogressive and abusive cycle.
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In our second case local government autonomy case in Benue, Sesugh Akume v Governor of Benue & 4 Others (with suit number MHC/346/2023), which was again not heard on 23 May, the last adjourned date, but was adjourned indefinitely, today we wrote to the chief judge of Benue, in a letter personally signed by myself and received in the chief judge’s chambers, to kindly reassign it to another court that will hear and close it expeditiously as the matter is time sensitive and doing otherwise defeats the ends of justice and will be a gross miscarriage of justice.
In this suit, we ask the court to sack the illegal, unconstitutional caretaker committees; to declare nullified and expunge from the Local Government Law any provision that makes room for suspending elected local government councils and/or appointing unelected local government councils, as all such provisions are now outdated having been declared invalid by the Supreme Court; to declare that sacking elected local government councils is a coup d’etat, etc.
Sesugh Akume