Action Congress condemns plan to stifle justice in Ekiti

The Action Congress (AC) has described as illegal and unconstitutional an assertion that the Certified True Copies (CTCs) of documents used for the last governorship re-run in Ekiti State can only be obtained from the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Maurice Iwu.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by its national publicity secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said the commission’s decision to withhold the documents, three weeks after the rerun, is another indication of its collusion with the Peoples Democratic Party to undermine efforts by Kayode Fayemi, the AC governorship candidate in the state, to get justice.

It said the correct procedure according to the Electoral Act, and in line with precedence, is for the resident electoral commissioner, who conducted the election to release the documents, instead of the curious directive by INEC’s director of legal affairs, Bawa, asking AC’s lawyers to apply to Mr. Iwu whom he said is the only one that can release the certificates.

“We are baffled that this kind of glaring illegality can be perpetrated despite President Umaru Yar’Adua’s emphasis on strict adherence to the rule of law. Is INEC above the law? Is (Mr.) Iwu a sacred cow who can flout the law with impunity? Or is the rule of law no longer in place?” the statement read.

The party said the bottom line is that INEC is jittery because it is aware that the documents arising from the cooked election at Ido-Osi cannot stand the test of rigorous scrutiny.

“If INEC has nothing to fear, why is it holding on to the documents? Why did the commission need to send two officials to Ado-Ekiti to retrieve the documents, instead of releasing them to AC’s lawyers as promised last Friday?”

AC called on President Umaru Yar’Adua to seize this golden opportunity to convince Nigerians that his electoral reforms programme is not a fluke by intervening quickly to ensure that the right thing is done - an immediate release of the certificates of the documents used for the rerun.