Tension as Fayose, APC enter fresh battle over petition against 2014 election

There is tension in Ekiti state as Governor Ayo Fayose and the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) start fresh battle.

Premium Times reports that the APC has petitioned the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, requesting a review of the June 21, 2014 gubernatorial election that ushered in Fayose.

The demand is in reaction to the shocking revelation recently made by the former secretary of the state’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Temitope Aluko , who alleged that the poll was rigged. The APC had earlier written two petitions to this effect; one on February 13, 2015 and the other on November 23, 2015.

The party in the petition, signed by the state chairman, Olajide Awe, demanded “for the prosecution of persons involved in conspiring and perpetrating acts of electoral fraud and malfeasance in the governorship election of June 21, 2014 in a manner other than that envisaged by the relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.”

The party stated that the review of the matter became important considering how Fayose emerged the state governor.

“We are compelled to write this reminder to draw your attention to the urgent need to address the matter to ensure justice in what has turned a blight on the nation’s practice of democracy through treasonable actions that denied the votes of Ekiti people.

“The Ekitigate scandal is an unprecedented electoral crime of treason that must be addressed in an unprecedented manner,” the petition read.

The chairman posited that were violations of the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, adding that the militarisation before, during and after the governorship election sparked anxiety and increased the level of insecurity in the state.

“In the spirit of the change agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari and in view of the new anti-corruption crusade that frowns at allowing criminals to enjoy the fruits of their crimes, the matter must be addressed in a manner that would not allow criminals to go away with their crimes.

“We view Ekitigate as an extraordinary shame of a nation, which is unprecedented in the annals of our electoral history.

“We unequivocally believe that this should elicit extra-ordinary remedy so that the course of justice, fair-play and pre-eminence of the Nigerian constitution are not permanently perverted and to act as deterrent to a repeat of such,” the petition read.

Reacting to the petition, Fayose through his spokesman, Idowu Adelusi, described it as “another APC comedy” and a fruitless effort to revisit an issue that had been decided by the Supreme Court.

He said it was a futile exercise as the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice had no such power to review the election.

According to him, the APC chairman request for a review of the election indicates that he lacks knowledge of the law.

“The issue concerning June 21, 2014‎ governorship election is a concluded matter which can never be revisited. The issue raised by Awe is an election matter conducted under stipulated time under the law because it is time bound. All parties have exhausted their rights at the tribunal, appeal court and Supreme Court under the law. It is only an unserious ‎minds like Awe that will rely on what Temitope Aluko has been saying,” Adelusi said.

Foremost human rights lawyer, Femi Falana had earlier disclosed that. Governor Fayose can be prosecuted if he is indicted by a panel set up by the military to look into the role allegedly played by its personnel during the state’s governorship election in 2014.