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By Lawrence Agbo
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of misinterpreting a court order in the ongoing leadership crisis within the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Falana made the remarks during the 5th Comrade Yinka Odumakin Memorial Lecture held in Lagos, where he criticised the electoral body’s reliance on the legal doctrine of “status quo ante bellum.”
According to him, the term simply means a return to the situation before the dispute began, questioning INEC’s interpretation of the court directive.
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“I said that INEC is wrong because the order granted by the court is an injunction of status quo ante bellum. They use such terms to deceive us. What that means is before the start of the war — so who was in charge before that matter went to court?” he said.
He argued that the court order had been misapplied in a manner that appears to favour the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Falana further expressed concern over what he described as growing fears of a one-party state, blaming both the judiciary and senior lawyers for enabling such a perception.
“When we complain that APC is trying to turn Nigeria into a one-party state, the court and senior lawyers are to blame,” he added.
