By Ejike Prevail
As the 21 days window for the filing of petition of governorship election elapses, Lawyers, activists and politicians have raised alarm over the candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Muritala Ajaka’s alleged plan to file petition through backdoor, by backdating it.
The Lawyers and Activists who are mostly from Kogi State have raised the alarm over what they described as a clandestine move by the SDP and its Governorship candidate to file their petition against the outcome of the November 11 election through the backdoor and backdate same to circumvent the provisions of the Electoral Act.
The lawyers, under the aegis of the United Front for Democracy, raised the alarm following the closure of the window allowed for the filing of electoral petition with all allegations and petition relating to the petition front-loaded, in line with Section 134 of the Electoral Act.
Irked by the claims by the lawyers and other concerned groups on this subject matter, an independent investigation into the allegation shows that SDP made payment of 132,200 as the petition filing fee dated 4th December 2023, meanwhile the assessment of the filing fee said to have been done on 2nd December 2023 is 94,500 as against 132,200.
The curiosity here is that, if payment was made and dated 4th December, how can the petition be filled on 2nd December when assessment of petition filing fee and payment of same fees are both pre – filing processes.
Remember, filing of petition as regard the Kogi govanorship election closes on the 3rd of Dec 2023 and the deposit of 132,200 was confirmed in the bank on the 4th of Dec 2023.
This is where the concerns of alleged malpractice by the SDP and its candidate are being raised by lawyers and civil society organisations.
At a press conference in Lokoja, on Monday for instance the Convener of United Front for Democracy, Barr. Yetunde Olubunmi Shaibu, said they had credible intelligence that the SDP candidate had yet to file his petition against the winner of the election, Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress, 22 days after the declaration of results.
The Activists noted that the 21 days window elapsed at the midnight of December 3, 2023, saying, “Section 134 of the Electoral Act is very clear as to when an electoral petition can be filed with all allegations and evidence relating to the petition front-loaded. By virtue of Section 134 of the Electoral Act, the SDP has failed to file their petition within the period allowed by Law and should therefore be made not to waste the time of the Honourable Panel.”
They, however, alleged that they had been credibly briefed that the SDP and its candidate were still preparing their petition with the intention of filing same within the week and having it backdated so as to make it look like it was filed within the legally stipulated duration.
“This must not be allowed to happen in the spirit of justice, equity and fairness,” the lawyers said.
They, therefore, called on the Election Petition Tribunal for the Kogi State Governorship Poll to “switch on its lights to fish out staff members who have been contracted to mess up with the integrity of our highly respected judiciary. We are watching and the world is watching to ensure the right thing is done.”
Barr. Shaibu stated, “As a Civil Society Organization, the United Front for Democracy is non-partisan. Our commitment is to protect democratic values and ensure that our judiciary is not slaughtered on the slab of political desperation and corruption.
“As a Civil Society Organization, our wish was to see elections challenged, but in a proper way that satisfies the requirements of administrative, judicial and legal procedures. Anything short of that will lead to a dangerous compromise and will be challenged with incontrovertible facts and evidence,” the lawyers/activists noted.