Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Maurice Iwu has faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission’s decision to reschedule part of the Osun State governorship election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has said there would be rerun in some polling units where elections were cancelled.
The units, which were listed by the commission, are two in Orolu Local Government Area, one in Ife South Local Government Area, one in Ife North Local Government Area and one in Osogbo Local Government Area.
In a statement, Iwu who said that he invented the inconclusive elections outcomes, particularly where elections did not hold for one reason or the other, said he later discovered that the proposal violated provisions of the constitution and was forced to drop it.
He said: “Actually, during the review of INEC’s Elections’ Manual, my committee and I as the Chair, invented the inconclusive elections outcomes, particularly where elections did not hold for one reason or the other.
“However, we the initiators of the inconclusive elections realised that our proposal was against the provisions of the 1999 Constitution ( as Amended ), particularly the presidential and the governorship elections and rerun
“Our proposals could be applied only in Senatorial, Federal House of Representatives, and State Assembly elections and rerun, for which the Constitution did not specify how these reruns should be made.
“In this, what is required by the constitution is that the ‘first past the post’ and/or that the candidate must have the polled majority of the votes cast.
“Secondly, that the candidate in addition to it, must obtain 25 percent of the total votes cast in two-third of the LGAs of the state in question or of the states in case of presidential election.
“The electoral act or INEC guidelines cannot supersede the constitutional provisions for that purpose.
“As the Constitution has clearly spelt out the manner and how a rerun should be made in the cases of governorship or presidential election rerun.
Now that the abuse of this tool is becoming obvious, the beneficiaries of this anomaly have refused to listen or adjust accordingly.
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