From Jude Idu, Abuja
With his hope of winning the Kano Central Senatorial seat under the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) hanging in the balance, owing to the refusal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to shortlist his name among contestants for the forthcoming general election, embattled Senator Rufai Hanga has accused INEC of derailing from its constitutional duty of being an unbiased umpire by becoming an interested party, saying that this may push the country into a civil war. Excerpt:
It’s a matter of days to the general election and INEC is yet to publish your name and those of other Senatorial candidates contesting under NNPP, what are you doing about it?
Yes, it is true and right now it is a source of worry, not on my side, but on what would be the general outcome of the election because of the way this INEC is going. It has refused to publish some of our names with a resolve that our names were submitted late. But NNPP is challenging this fragrant disobedient to court judgement by INEC, who has refused to publish the names of our Senatorial candidates despite the judgment by the Appeal Court on the 10th of January, 2023. The party is asking INEC as an unbiased electoral umpire to step down from its high horse and toe the way of honour and respect the Appeal Court judgment, which has mandated INEC to publish names of the Senatorial candidates from Kano Central, Potiskum in Yobe state and Taraba South. These candidates are those the NNPP submitted their names to INEC to replace former party members who on their own volition resigned their membership of the party to join other parties. And in respect to relevant Sections 1 and 31 of the constitution which stipulates that INEC having been put on notice of the prevailing situation, election into such positions must be conducted within 90 days and submitted to INEC before the general election. So, it is an aberration that INEC can insist with all knowledge of the relevant laws, that the electoral guideline supersedes the electoral provision in the Nigerian Constitution, Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution as amended. We are asking INEC to lawfully obey the court judgment, but it keeps insisting on the superiority of its electoral guideline, which of course, is not superior to the constitutional provisions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
And it is on this legal premise that INEC lost at the high court and Appeal Court respectively. We have two judgments in our hands and we have not received any Supreme Court appeal since then, of course, which must be appealed within seven days of the judgment. But I was told by the national legal adviser that the appeal date has elapsed and we are waiting to see if they will implement the judgment. But the fact is that they cannot do the election without us since the court judgment is in our favour. I was surprised that those who left the New Nigeria People’s Party to other parties are still having their names reflected as NNPP members according to INEC website and election publication. The INEC is supposed to be non-partisan in the election it conducts. It should not be deciding for parties who represents it at various levels. That is what they are doing in our own case and it shouldn’t be so. This is an act of impunity and it is very dangerous to the political system. I am saying so because INEC wants to push us to civil war, should this kind of thing persists or continues to happen, people who are supporters of other parties, may revolt against the decisions. People may react against the decisions and it may not be good for the country because these are the type of thing that leads to civil unrest, and to a large extent escalate into full blown war. But my prayer is that it may not degenerate to that level if INEC should do the needful.
Do you think any one is behind it?
Yes, of course, somebody is behind it, there is no smoke without fire, our question is what interest has INEC in a case that it has lost its legal battle at two different courts? As an unbiased umpire, INEC should not decide who contests under our party in the forthcoming elections, neither does it has the right to impose a candidate after the party has fulfilled the relevant provisions of the law with regards to filling the space left by former party members. But INEC insisted that the submission of names of candidates has elapsed before we submitted names, which is far from the constitutional provisions. My fears are that the INEC may have started playing a dangerous game in defiance to the pronouncement of the court. What we seek is the interest of the umpire in trying to impose candidates which are not within their jurisdictions. We don’t want to preempt the umpire, but we are also sounding it loud and clear that the Appeal Court judgment of 10th of January 2023, mandated the relevant candidates the party submitted their names to fill the gaps to resume political campaign preparatory to the general election at their various senatorial zones. It will also intrest you to know that the high court rejected the candidates that INEC submitted, even the Appeal Court did the same
What are the chances of NNPP in winning the presidential election?
Yes, we have high hope of winning this election. We have a good material as a presidential candidate that can beat all rivals. He does not need any introduction like other candidates. But I have my reservations on the conduct of this election under APC. I must tell you that the NNPP has been under attack during political rallies more especially in Kano where they know that Kwankwaso has upper hands. So many times during campaigns, our vehicles were attacked and people wounded and all these were to scare people away from the polling units on the election day. May other political parties have reported similar incidents in the cause of their campaign. And that is wrong, how can we have a good society where the best is forced to go into his shell on election day. We should be able to play politics without bitterness. We should be able to allow the people make choice of candidates they wish to lead them.
Do you see 2023 election holding as scheduled by INEC?
Well, INEC has kept promising that it is capable of holding the election as scheduled, but I have my fears. We cannot guarantee that with all that are going on across the country. There are reports of attacks of rival political parties across Nigeria and that means that insecurity is still a major factor that needs to be addressed and It should not be so. There are also the controversy surrounding the obtaining and distribution of PVCs. Many are still complaining of the whereabouts of theirs. A lot of issues. But it is not in our interest that the election may not hold as scheduled because Nigerians are waiting to see the cleaner, better conduct and outcome of the process and promise made by the incumbent government. Our resolve is to have a united peaceful country where the unity of this country supersedes interests.
If case the matter goes to the Supreme Court and you lose out like in the ‘other Supreme Court cases’ we experienced recently, what will you do?
Even if this matter goes to the Supreme Court and I lose out, there is nothing I can do about it. But we have always advised for true democracy and as a country said to be a democratic nation, there are things that are not supposed to be seen or heard. Like I said, there is nothing I can do about it, after all what about the Supreme Court cases involving the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan and that of Senator Akpabio both of the APC, whom the lower courts and INEC have failed to grant judgment recorgnition because they did not participate in the primaries. But today they are made to be major contestants, and their opponents from the other parties made to lose out But whatever you do in this world posterity will judge you. That is the philosophy of life.