Events are gradually unfolding as Anambra State prepares for local government Council elections, on September, 28th, 2024, the first in 10 years.
The controversial law passed by by the State House of Assembly, which empowers State political party Chairman, a member, Board of Trustees (BoT) or a member, House of Representatives members to nominate those who will contest for various positions in the forthcoming elections, has attracted condemnation from an Abuja based prominent constitutional lawyer, Prince Orji Nwafor – Orizu.
The Principal Partner, Friends Chambers in Abuja and Nnewi, Anambra State, spoke to our Correspondent, on the contentious law, in Abuja.
He accused Anambra StateGovernment, House of Assembly and Governor Chukwuma Soludo of making mockery of democracy.
He said that they cannot make a law that is openly unconstitutional. “Before making any law, he went on, they should check the constitution of the country,” he said.
“Anambra State House of Assembly has passed a law that gives power to the state chairman, BoT member or House of Representatives member alone to nominate anyone who wants to stand for an election at the LGA, against constitutional position, which says that such candidate must be sponsored by a registered political party.
“Sponsorship by a political party means the national party. If a company has its head office in Abuja, with a branch in the state, the person in the branch cannot be speaking for the company.
“The national headquarters of a party through its national officers and not state officers speaks for the party.
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“What they did in Anambra is to ensure that Njoku and the authentic All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) members will not nominate candidates for the LGA elections.”
On the way forward, the legal luminary, accused the APGA faction loyal to Dr. Chukwuma Soludo of not doing the right thing, saying that the right thing to do is to go to court and stop the obnoxious law.
He therefore described going to court after election to nullify it as a waste of time, as election petition can only be filed by those who participated at the election.
The constitutional lawyer also said that if the Anambra State Independent National Electoral Commission does not nominate them, they cannot file election petition.
To this end, he advised that the right thing for Njoku’s led APGA faction to do, will be for the candidates to file pre election matter, challenging their non inclusion in the election.
This he said they must do within 14 days from the date of publication of candidates that excludes their names or they will be out of time and cannot challenge the election.
Responding to a question put to him, if the law contradicts the Electoral Act, he said: “Electoral Act is not an issue, but the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, because any law that contradicts the Constitution, is declared null, void and of no effect to the extent of that contradiction.”
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His calls for Ukachukwu to go and take his mandate from INEC, was based on the recent judgement passed by the Supreme Court that Edozie Njoku, under whose chairmanship Ukachukwu was said to have won primary election, is the authentic chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), not Victor Oye, under whose chairmanship, Governor Soludo was said to have won primary election during governorship election in the state.
Explaininf in details Prince Orji – Nwafor – Orizu noted: “Ukachukwu should go to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and claim his mandate, because it is a finished issue. There is no doubt in law, that Ukachukwu should go and take his mandate, as governor of Anambra State.
“For any reason best known to him; for any political situation or reason, he decided not to do so. Why we urge him to go to the INEC to take his mandate is because INEC will not refuse him and INEC will not hand it over to him, while sitting down in his house.”
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It would be recalled that the tussle over who is the national chairman of the APGA between Njoku and Oye went to the Supreme Court and the apex court gave victory to Njoku and ordered Oye to stop parading himself as the party’s national chairman.
It would also be recalled that, it was said that Ukachukwu won primary election in APGA under Njoku, being the real national chairman of APGA, as declared by the apex court, against, Soludo who was said, to have won the same primary under a faction led by Oye which has now been declared illegal.
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