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Beyond the declaration of winners in the last presidential and governorship polls, there are issues that matter. They border on the credibility of the elections and the legitimacy of positions assumed by the victors. These are the reasons Nigerians are yet to let go some developments associated with the contests. When, therefore, you see the citizens, especially the youths chorusing #AllEyesOnTheElectionTribunalJudges, they are not kidding or playing on words. It is rather, for them, a matter of probity, a demand that all the controversies surrounding the elections are cleared beyond reasonable doubts.
The central issues are the authenticity of the credentials presented by the candidates for the polls and genuineness of the scores assigned them by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the electoral umpire. These are the matters of contention against President Bola Tinubu by Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25 presidential election, his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Peter Obi, and others at the national level
They are contesting the declaration of Tinubu, the standard-bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the contest. Among their grounds of disputation is that he does not possess the certificates he presented for the election. There is also the argument that he does not meet the geographical spread in votes cast, as stipulated by the Constitution.
Similar challenges resonate in Enugu State. Here, the protagonists are Governor Peter Mbah, the PDP standard-bearer in the March 18 governorship election, and his main challenger, Chijioke Edeoga of Labour Party. Both are lawyers and had at various times in the past served the state in different capacities.
Mbah is under a huge burden of legitimacy as governor of his state. It is not uncommon to hear enlightened observers in the state describe him as interim governor or placeholder. Their argument is that he did not win the election. And until the Enugu State Elections Tribunal delivers its judgment, thousands of Enugu electorate who voted in that election will continue to see him as an usurper, a pretender to the throne.
We may take a look at the results declared by INEC and other issues of contention to understand their argument. At the point of collation of results, the record from INEC showed that voting in 16 of Enugu State’s 17 local government areas produced result as follows for the two leading candidates: Edeoga (LP): 155,697 votes; Peter Mbah (PDP): 143,938 votes. At this point, the difference was 11,759 votes, advantage Edeoga. The outstanding votes were those from Nkanu East, where Mbah hails from.
From INEC’s official dashboard, the number of registered voters in Nkanu East was 36,976. The number of voters that collected their PVCs was 27,594. The number of voters accredited to vote on election day was 7,453.
Edeoga was already leading by 11,759 votes, far more than the 7,453 accredited voters. In that case, even if Mbah had cleared all the votes from his Nkanu East LGA, which could not have happened, he would still have lost the election to Edeoga by 4,306 votes. Edeoga should, therefore, have been declared winner of the election. But INEC pulled a fast one and awarded Edeoga a paltry 1,855 votes for Nkanu East and handed Mbah a whopping 30,560 votes, in the same council that recorded only 7,453 accredited voters.
Faced by the outrage over its follies, INEC hurriedly announced suspension of further collation of results. By the time it emerged from ballot review three days later, it did not fare better. This time, it allocated 16,956 votes to Mbah and still retained the 1,855 votes for Edeoga. Nothing could be more childish! Edeoga is, therefore, right in insisting that Mbah was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast in the election. His contention, through his lawyers, is that there were “arithmetical and computational errors” in the scores recorded and announced in favour of Mbah by the INEC. This is one leg of the case.
The other angle is Mbah’s qualification for the election. Mbah muddled issues with the certificate controversy involving him and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). He had claimed that he participated in the NYSC scheme via a call-up letter: FRN/2001/800351 with the Lagos code LA/01/1532. He also claimed that on completion of service he was issued with a discharge certificate number: A808297, dated January 6, 2003.
NYSC has since repudiated the claim. In what seemed strange coincidence, that same year, Mbah was Chief of Staff to former governor of the state, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani. There was nohow he could have travelled on two roads at the same time.
It should be recalled that, following the Freedom of Information Act application by the law firm of OMAS & Partners, the NYSC had issued a disclaimer on Mbah’s certificate. Even a certain Isa Yahaya Mohammed who claimed to be a staff of the Department of State Services (DSS) and was presented at the election petitions tribunal to say that the certificate Mbah holds was issued by the NYSC has been disowned by the agency (DSS).
Essentially, Edeoga and his party are asking for the disqualification of Mbah from the election on the basis of forgery and consider the votes he scored in that election as wasted.
Thus, disarmed on all fronts, Mbah’s lawyers are clutching at anything that comes their way, including arguing that non-possession of NYSC discharge certificate cannot be a ground to disqualify him from the election. But it goes beyond that. It involves lying on oath, an offence considered grievous in law. Besides, it calls to question the foundation of the kind of society Nigeria is erecting and its leadership recruitment processes.
Rule of law demands respect for institutions and their activities. NYSC as a lawful establishment has elaborate grounds for exemptions from service. Failure to explore such options demands participation in the mandatory assignment as basis to be issued a discharge certificate. Parading a certificate other than that from the body should be a big offence. Lying on oath over such makes it more complicated. These are the ways people are looking at the certificate issues involving Mbah. They are weighty and speak to the future of the country. The moment the integrity of such national institutions as the NYSC is compromised for political expediency and legal technicalities, Nigeria will be the biggest loser. This is part of the reasons the people continue to look up to the judiciary to do the right thing in Enugu.
