The Lagos State Local Government Election Tribunal, Alausa, Ikeja, yesterday 13th September, 2021, heard the Petition filed by our Party and Mrs. Tari Taylaur in respect of the rigged Councillorship election in Ward A, (Lekki/Ikate) Eti-Osa Local Government Area.

Mr. ‘Wale Irokosu, who represented the lead Counsel Mr. C.A. Candide Johnson, S.A.N., appeared for the Petitioners with Eze Okam, Esther Randle, Chizoba Anyaeji and Emmanuella Fogeh.

Mr. Babatunde Ogala, S.A.N, with Mr. Ogunleye for APC and Mr. Efe Akpoduvo with Olulogbe Adebayo for Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC).

Our Party and Mrs. Tari Taylaur presented 2 Witnesses at the Lagos State Local Government Election Tribunal today. The Polling Agent for Polling Unit 13, who had testified that voting materials did not arrive until about 3pm. And, voting started at 3:15pm, when most voters had left having waited from about 8am in some cases. He testified that the election venue was moved from Omorinre Johnson Street, off Providence Street, Lekki Phase 1 to Lekki Event Centre. He also tendered a video recording showing irregularities collation of results going on at the Local Government, Igbo-Efon.

The witness was cross-examined by Mr. Babatunde Ogala, S.A.N and Mr. Akpoduvo. The witness was further re-examined by Mr. ‘Wale Irokosu.

The 2nd Witness, Mrs. Bolanle Babajide, the Chief Legal Officer of INEC, who was subpoenaed by the Tribunal to tender the register of voters for polling units 014A, 016, 016A, 17, 18, 18A and 19 and further testify on those documents.

Mr. Ogala, SAN argued that the witness was not listed as a witness for the Petitioners and cannot testify for the Petitioners. However, the witness can only tender those documents. The Tribunal upheld his objection and the witness was examined by the Tribunal after which the register of voters for polling units 014A, 016, 016A, 17, 18, 18A and 19 were tendered.

We could not conclude our case as scheduled by Tribunal as the LASIEC Election Returning Officer for the Constituency was absent.

The Matter was consequently adjourned to Thursday, 16th September, 2021, at 12noon, for continuation of hearing.

The Election Petition filed before the Lagos State Local Government Election Tribunal in respect of the Ward A, (Lekki/Ikate) Eti-Osa Local Government Area Councillorship election came up for hearings earlier today.

Mr. ‘Wale Irokosu, who represented the lead Counsel Mr. C.A. Candide Johnson, S.A.N., appeared for the Petitioners with Esther Randle, Collins Ede, Abiola Abegunde and Emmanuella Fogeh for the Petitioners.
Mr. Babatunde Ogala, S.A.N, with Mr. Ogunleye for APC and Mr. Efe Akpoduvo with Olulogbe Adebayo for Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC).

Our Party and Mrs. Tari Taylaur presented 2 Witnesses at the Lagos State Local Government Election Tribunal today. They were examined by Mr. ‘Wale Irokosu and cross-examined by Mr. Babatunde Ogala, S.A.N., for APC and Mr. Akpoduvo for Lagos State Electoral Commission (LASIEC).

The 1st Witness, our Party’s agent for polling unit 16A testified that voters came to cast their vote but discovered that election was not ongoing. So many voters waited for the arrival of LASIEC officials but they did not show up and they left the polling unit out of frustration. He found out from a voter that polling unit 16 had been moved to Admiralty Way in Lekki without notifying the electorates. He further testified that he joined a LASIEC official to polling unit 13 at past 3 pm while election started at 3.17 pm. The witness was cross-examined by Mr. Babatunde Ogala, S.A.N and Mr. Akpoduvo. The witness was further re-examined by Mr. ‘Wale Irokosu.

The 2nd Witness, our party’s agent for polling unit 013 testified that he arrived the election venue at about 6.30 am and waited for the arrival of LASIEC officials, but they did not show up. He further testified that LASIEC officials arrived the election venue at about 2.30 pm and informed the voters that polling unit 13 has been moved to Lekki Event Centre on Admiralty Way while voting started at about 3:00 pm but that there was poor turnout of voters due to the delay and sudden change of location by the LASIEC officials.

The 2nd witness was unable to conclude his testimony due to some technical fault with the recording system.
The matter was consequently adjourned to Monday, 13th September, 2021, for continuation of hearing.

The Tribunal started sitting at about 10:20am.

Mr. ‘Wale Irokosu, who represented the lead Counsel Mr. C.A. Candide-Johnson,S.A.N.,appeared for the Petitioners with Eze Okam, Esther Randle, Chibuike Ifeagwu and Chizoba Anyaeji for the Petitioners.
Mr. Babatunde Ogala S.A.N., for APC and Sadiq Mudashiru(it’s candidate)
Mr. Efe Akpoduvo for Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission(LASIEC).

Our Party and Mrs. Tari Taylaur presented 5 Witnesses at the Lagos State Local Government Election Tribunal today. They were examined by Mr. ‘Wale Irokosu and cross-examined by Mr. Babatunde Ogala, S.A.N., for APC and Mr. Akpoduvo for Lagos State Electoral Commission(LASIEC).
One of the Witneseses, our Party’s agent for Polling Unit 16 and 16A testified that the Ward A constituency starts from Lekki Phase 1 and ends at Femi Okunnu Estate and that her polling units were within the constituency. Election took place in the polling units but was never recorded in the final result even though Youth Party won. Also, the Polling units was not on LASIEC’s guildeline.

The 2nd witness, our party’s agent for polling unit 10 in Igbokusu village testified that there was threat and intimidation at the polling unit as party agent for Youth Party’s representation was challenged on the ground that he is not a member of the community.
There was multiple thumb printing and when he started recording the irregularities, members of the APC trailed him and he left the community for his safety before the end of the election.

The third witness, Youth Party’s agent in polling unit 14A in Lekki testified that the election materials brought in his polling unit had Iru/Victoria Island on it.
That after the election, the ballot papers were moved to Iru/Victoria Island LCDA for collation which resulted in disenfranchisement of voters in polling unit 14A as their votes did not count and the result was not recorded in the final result.

The fourth witness, Youth Party’s agent for polling unit 005 in Ikate Land which was located around the palace of Oba of Elegushi testified that several groups of persons who are non Nigerians were brought to vote upon the payment of N3000.
Prince Anofiu Elegushi, Lagos State Commissioner for Home Affairs was also seen openly disturbing money from the trunk of his car.

The fifth witness, the Youth Party’s agent for polling unit 007 testified that her polling unit was moved from the original location to the Palace of Oba Elegushi of Ikate Land. She was testified that APC mobilized voters with money, food and drinks to ensure they vote for the APC candidate and they also followed voters to the polling booth to ensure they vote for APC candidates.

The matter was adjourned to Wednesday, 8th September 2021, for continuation of Hearing.

The Youth Party and its councillorship candidate Ward A, Eti Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State, Mrs. Tari Taylur, have filed an election petition at the Lagos State Local Government Election Tribunal to dispute the result declared in the election by Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission ,LASIEC.

In the petition filed by their counsel, Adeyemi Candide-Johnson, SAN,  they are seeking the cancellation of the exercise they described as discredited election.

According to a statement made available to Vanguard, the party said:”You will recall that the election was marred by massive irregularities and substantial non-compliance with extant electoral laws. In at least 8 of the 16 Polling Units earmarked for the election, electoral officers and materials either did not turn up at all or got to polling units very late after most voters had left. Furthermore, about six polling units were illegally relocated to or around a royal palace, which were inaccessible to intending voters.

“There was massive intimidation, with thugs visibly forcing voters to vote for the ruling Party in 3 polling units in Igbokusu. Not to mention the brazen multiple thumb printing by agents of the ruling party.

“In summary, there was massive suppression of votes, intimidation, violence, and substantial non-compliance with the electoral laws. These irregularities contributed to the gigantic voters’ apathy and a lack of confidence in the electoral system observed during the polls. It is no surprise that the average turnout at the election was 2.5% of the registered voters. This poor conduct of the election is putting democracy in peril.

“Consequently, we have resolved to pursue this legal battle to the fullest extent of the law to retrieve the stolen mandate and restore confidence in the electoral process. We expect and trust that the judiciary, being the last hope of the common man, would step up and correct the charade of an election that LASIEC conducted in Ward A, Eti Osa Local Government, Lagos State, on Saturday 24th July 2021.”

Without the rule of law, we have no democracy. We have been on this journey for four years. Despite having the Constitution and several judgments from the court on our side, we have been victims of a commission that lacks respect for the rule of law and has chosen to play God. For what is a society where public institutions created by statutes have scant regard for the rule of law and the courts that uphold them? Little wonder RJ Intindola, the famous poet, philosopher, and writer, once claimed that, “If we do not have justice for the rule of law, then society shall be broken.”

The Youth Party commenced registration in December 2016 but was not registered until 14th August 2018, just days before the commencement of primaries for the 2019 general elections. This was despite a judgment of the Federal High Court delivered in October 2017. This undue sabotage from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) affected our ability to perform at the 2019 general elections. Nonetheless, we fielded 11 candidates for the House of Representatives and the State Houses of Assembly all over the country in those elections.

In late 2019, INEC threatened to deregister the Youth Party without due process or recourse to the Constitution’s provisions. To forestall the threatened deregistration, we commenced a court action against INEC in January 2020 at the Federal High Court, Abuja and judgment was delivered in our favour on 12th October 2020. Subsequently, INEC appealed against the decision of the Federal High Court, Abuja, and the Court of Appeal ruled through a unanimous judgment delivered by Hon. Justice T.Y. Hassan, that our purported deregistration was illegal, null, and void.

It, therefore, defeats logic that despite the judgment from the Appeal Court, INEC initially refused to list our party’s name on its website as a registered party or allow us to participate in any election. INEC’s flagrant disregard of the court’s ruling is a breach of the universally and constitutionally protected human rights of our members to freedom of association. The assault on our judiciary by INEC cannot continue if we intend to preserve our democracy. Perhaps it was this dissent to the chaos that Justice I.E Ekwo decided to avert when he boldly declared in his ruling against INEC that:

“… the Defendant is not above the law. No person or parties to an action is allowed to resort to self-help when an action is pending in court. The claim that the Defendant has power pursuant to S,225A(b) & (c) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to deregister a political party does not justify the action of the Defendant while this action is pending. The Defendant must understand that the constitution is not an author of confusion. I condemn the action of the Defendant as a wrong exercise of might. Therefore, the deregistration of the Plaintiff during the pendency of this action by the Defendant is illegal, null and void, and liable to be set aside. Consequently, I hereby make an order setting aside the deregistration of the Plaintiff.”

Also, in a unanimous judgment by the Court of Appeal delivered by Honourable Justice T.Y. Hassan, J.C.A., the court frowned at INEC’s notoriety, declaring that:

“This court will not hesitate to sustain the decision of the lower court which pulled down and dismantled the edifice that the Appellant built on self-help when it deregistered the Respondent not only during the pendency of the Suit but when it had been served with and had reacted to the motion for an interlocutory injunction seeking to restrain the Appellant from the very act it helped itself to actualize extra judicially. To say the least, we find the Appellant’s action very reprehensible. The Lower Court, as any court of law would have done, acted correctly by setting aside the deregistration of the Respondent. We have no reason to interfere with the order made by the Lower Court and same be sustained.”

It is essential to point out that this party has never contested INEC’s powers to regulate the affairs of political parties. We have only argued that such powers must be exercised within the ambits of the law and that same be guided by the Constitution. We have further recommended to the National Assembly that the power to deregister a political party should only be exercised by INEC after obtaining a judgment from a competent court.

The Youth Party will continue to challenge the Commission’s role in inadvertently creating a two-party system where the choices for Nigerians are grossly limited. We, therefore, encourage INEC to revert to its statutorily imposed duty of neutrality as a regulator.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that the Lagos State Electoral Commission (LASIEC) threatened to take sides with INEC in clear breach of the Constitution and the Appellate Court’s rulings. Justice Ayotunde Phillips, the Chairperson of LASIEC, is a retired judge and should seek to protect the integrity of the men and women of the bench by ensuring that the Commission she now leads shows respect for the rule of law. The Youth Party contested in Saturday’s local government elections.

We will not be deterred or discouraged because we are fighting a good cause. We are fighting for a country that works for all Nigerians and not the one that works for a select few. We are fighting for a country where the rule of law is respected irrespective of social status or position. We are fighting for the soul of our nation, and God is on our side.

The candidate of the Youth Party in the recently conducted local government election in Lagos, Mrs Tari Taylaur, has expressed great displeasure with LAISEC for frustrating the party’s effort to inspect election materials.

The tribunal, headed by Justice Onigbanjo had on Monday, August 23, granted the party’s request to inspect the election materials for the councillorship election in Ward A, Lekki. Upon receiving the order, LAISEC’s legal director, Mrs Abiola Gbadamosi scheduled a meeting on Thursday, August 26, to inspect the materials at the local government secretariat in Eti-Osa.

In a statement made available to newsmen, Mrs Taylaur stated that “Our lawyers noticed that the ballot papers for all the Polling Units in Eti-Osa Local Government were jumbled in the bag, making it challenging to identify the ballot papers used in Ward A. It was not sorted out nor arranged to allow for easy understanding or comprehension.

“During the inspection, we were informed that the office closes by 4 pm. As such, all inspections on election materials are to be concluded within four hours which was indeed a ridiculous task and a ploy to frustrate us.

At about 3 pm while the inspection was ongoing, our legal representatives realised that they could not meet the deadline. In good faith, they approached the authority to schedule another inspection on Friday, August 27, 2021, to enable them to complete the inspection of the election materials as ordered by the Honourable Court.

“However, our plea was rejected. Deliberately refusing and neglecting the order of the Honourable Tribunal leaves the fate of democracy hanging in the balance,” she said.

The Chairman of the Lagos local government election tribunal Justice Onigbanjo on Tuesday granted the request of the Youth Party to inspect the election materials of Ward A, Lekki, in Eti-Osa local government.

The Youth Party had, on August 17, 2021, filed an election petition at the tribunal to dispute the results of the Ward A councillorship election in Lekki. The petition was filed by the party’s counsel, Mr. Adeyemi Candide-Johnson (SAN), who leads a team of lawyers seeking to cancel the exercise they have described as a ‘highly discredited election.’.

The party has said it would immediately commence the inspection of the boxes and has hired a team of forensic experts to aid the process.

On 17th August 2021, our Party and Mrs. Tari Taylaur, it’s Councillorship Candidate for Ward A, Eti Osa Local Government in the local government election of 24th July, 2021, filed an election petition at the Lagos State Local Government Election Tribunal to dispute the result declared in the election by LASIEC.

The petition was filed by our counsel, Adeyemi Candide-Johnson, SAN, who is leading a team of lawyers to present our case for the cancellation of the discredited election.

You will be aware of multiple widely publicized reports of election malpractices, massive irregularities and substantial non-compliance with extant electoral law. Some of the examples are the following:

1. Out of the 16 Polling Units earmarked for the election, electoral officers and materials either did not turn up at all or showed up to polling units only very late and after most voters had left.
2. About 6 polling units were relocated to or around the royal palace in Ikate, and made inaccessible to intending voters.
3. There was massive intimidation where voters were asked to confirm that they would vote for the ruling Party before they were allowed to vote in 3 polling units in Igbokusu.
4. Multiple thumb printing by of votes was carried out publicly by agents of the ruling Party.

In summary, there was massive suppression of votes, intimidation, violence and substantial non compliance with the electoral laws.

All these have contributed to massive voters apathy due to lack of confidence in the electoral system as the average turn out at the election was 2.5% of the registered voters. This is putting democracy in peril.

Consequently, we have resolved to pursue this legal battle to the fullest extent of the law to retrieve the stolen mandate of the people and to restore confidence in the electoral process.

It is our expectation that the judges of the electoral tribunals will carry out their function diligently and faithfully to correct the charade of an election which LASIEC conducted in Ward A, Eti Osa Local Government, Lagos State, on Saturday 24th July, 2021. The judiciary is the last hope of the common man.

See Full Election Tribunal Document HERE https://bit.ly/3ATuHN9

We object to the overreaching and unconscionable efforts of the National Assembly to whittle down the powers of INEC, particularly its constitutionally conferred rights to determine the process of elections in Nigeria.

It will suffice to state that the National Assembly was reported to have passed an amendment to the Electoral Act, particularly the section that deals with the electronic transmission of election results, limiting the powers of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), which is constitutionally employed to conduct elections in the country.

With the amendment, INEC’s intent to transmit election results electronically will now depend on the express permission of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Assembly itself.

The controversial provision reads “voting at an election under this Bill shall be by procedures determined by the commission, which may include electronic voting, provided that the commission shall not transmit results of the election by electronic means.”

This development attracted severe criticism from many Nigerians who accused the National Assembly of subverting the proposed amendment and trying to perpetuate rigging in future elections. 

The group further called on the NCC, especially the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd (NIGCOMSAT), Telephone companies (Telcos), and other stakeholders to ensure access to IT services is provided, especially in rural, unserved, and under-served areas of the country before the 2023 general elections. 

We find it very strange for the Senate to push the responsibility of electronic transmission of results to the NCC, despite what the constitution says about the powers of the INEC to determine the electoral process including the pattern of voting and mode of transmission of results. 

For the avoidance of doubt, Section 78 of the constitution says

“The Registration of voters and the conduct of elections shall be subject to the direction and supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission”

The third schedule, part 1, F, Section 15 of the document further says,

“INEC has the power to organize, undertake and supervise all elections to the offices of the President, Vice President, Governor and Deputy Governor of a state, and to the membership of the senate, the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly of each state of the Federation.”

We believe the electronic transmission of election results will help to check rigging at polling units and collation centers. Transferring election results electronically is also a universal norm in this century. We have seen smaller and poorer countries conduct the electronic transmission of results, even with their limited infrastructure Nigeria should not be an exception.

We find it very difficult to believe that our lawmakers would oppose the electronic transmission of results when daily Nigerians are using electronic transfer of money and in the admission of students to various higher institutions in the country.

Electronic transmission is as simple as sending a text message, WhatsApp message, or using any other platform recommended by INEC and we feel the National Assembly should have a rethink on the matter before presenting the bill to President Muhammadu Buhari for his assent.

The constitution provides that INEC operations shall not be subject to the direction of anybody or authority.

This, therefore, renders the action of the NASS nugatory. By inviting the NCC and shunning INEC, it appeared the House was acting out a devious and utterly treacherous script intended to add to the current sorry state of the electoral process. 

Even if the telecommunications network is weak or non-existent in a particular unit, moving further away from such unit until you access a place for a better network will still not vitiate the authenticity of election results already tallied at the polling units. The electronic copy only complements the physical copy, which must have been signed by all agents relevant to an election.

As a backup copy, the electronic copy of an election result helps to strengthen the electoral process and reduce incidents of ballot-snatching and the primitive manipulation of the physical copy.

We believe that ordinarily, there should not be any controversy on this subject as INEC, which is the only body mandated by the constitution to organize, undertake and supervise all elections, has categorically stated that it can achieve the electronic transmission of results. We posit that INEC does not need a Bill of the National Assembly to transmit results of elections electronically. And, we would expect it to challenge the powers of the National Assembly to subject its independence to the NASS’ whims and caprices.

Any unsuspecting member of the public would mistake the lowering of the age of eligibility to contest for public office through the passing of the “Not Too Young Bill” as an act or sign of encouragement or inclusion in political participation of the Youth by the Federal Government through its agency, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Nothing could be further from the truth. INEC is desperately, shamelessly and vehemently against the participation of the youth in politics. It is a fact: INEC’s continuous victimization of the Youth Party; the dodgy clause 78(7) in the Electoral Bill where it seeks to restrict the democratic space to two big parties; and its refusal to conduct a year round continuous voters registration since 2017 until 28^th June, 2021, which would have made citizens who turned 18 years of age after the last registration process (April, 2017) eligible to vote and voted for, speaks volume to the same end. INEC is morphing into an enemy of democracy. Currently, all new registered voters who are largely youth (65% plus) have been banned from voting in the impending the Local Government Polls in Lagos and Ogun States by administrative fiat. And, they have already been disenfranchised from all the local government elections conducted since the last registration.

Youth Party

Youth Party commenced the process of registration in December 2016, and INEC was against us from the onset. We had to get a Court Judgment to be considered for registration at all. Essentially, we had to get a judgment to get an application form. A process that should not take 3 months according to the law took more than 2 years with dire consequences. Eventually, our Party was not registered until 14^th August, 2018, just a few days before the commencement of primaries for the 2019 general elections. This was despite a judgement of the Federal High Court delivered on 20^th October 2017 directing INEC to register the Party. This late registration of our Party affected our ability to perform at the 2019 general elections. Meanwhile, INEC was busy sponsoring the amendment of the Constitution in a manner that would empower it to deregister the Party immediately after the 2019 election. INEC sponsored the amendment of Section 225A of the Constitution, whilst delaying our registration. The said Section 225A was amended to require performance of parties at election, without giving any period to allow the parties to grow organically.  Nonetheless, we fielded 11 (Eleven) candidates for House of Representatives and States Houses of Assembly all over the country in those elections. 

Immediately after the 2019 election, INEC threatened to deregister our Party.

Consequently, we commenced a court action against INEC in January 2020, at the Federal High Court, Abuja. All other political parties that sued INEC were left off the deregistration list and the Commission cited pending litigation but not Youth Party.

INEC resorted to self-help unbecoming of an unbiased electoral umpire.

Subsequently, judgment was delivered in our favour on 12^th October, 2020. 

The dictum of Honourable Justice I.E. Ekwo of the Federal High Court in his judgment, in Youth Party v. INEC, is profound, where he held that:

the Defendant is not above the law. No person or parties to an action is allowed to resort to self help when an action is pending in Court. The claim that the Defendant has power pursuant to S.225A(b) & (c) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to de-register a political party does not justify the action of the Defendant while this action is pending. The Defendant must understand that the constitution is not an author of confusion. I condemn the action of the Defendant as a wrong exercise of might. Therefore, the deregistration of the Plaintiff during the pendency of this action by the Defendant is illegal, null and void, and liable to be set aside. Consequently, I hereby make an order setting aside the de-registration of the Plaintiff”.

Subsequently, INEC appealed against the decision of the Federal High Court, Abuja and the Court of Appeal held, through a unanimous Judgment delivered by Hon. Justice T.Y. Hassan,J.C.A., that our purported deregistration was illegal, null and void, holding that:

“This Court will not hesitate to sustain the decision of the Lower Court which pulled down and dismantled the edifice that the Appellant built on self help when it deregistered the Respondent not only during the pendency of the Suit but when it had been served with and had reacted to the motion for interlocutory injunction seeking to restrain the Appellant from the very act it helped itself to actualize extra judicially.  To say the least, we find the Appellant action very reprehensible, the Lower Court as any court of law would have done, acted correctly by setting aside the deregistration of the Respondent. We have no reason to interfere with the order made by the Lower Court and same be sustained”

Despite the subsisting judgment of the Federal High Court that was upheld on appeal, which has neither been set aside nor stayed, INEC has refused to list our Party on its website as a registered Party or allowed us to participate in any election in the Country.  INEC is in continuous flagrant breach of the universally and constitutionally protected human rights of our members to freedom of association.

We have delivered several letters to INEC to allow our Party and its members participate in a number of bye-elections and local government elections, to no avail. Specifically, we were illegally and unfairly excluded from the bye elections in Lagos, Abia, Zamfara and Bayelsa; and the LG polls in Ondo, Sokoto, Bayelsa, Ekiti and Oyo States. INEC’s disgust for the Youth Party extends to rejecting any letter from them. 

Currently, the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) is about to conduct local government elections in Lagos States State and our Party wishes to field candidates and participate in the election. However, INEC has refused to confirm the status of our Party to LASIEC despite the judgments of Courts. Thus, Youth Party and its members are being denied the right to freely participate in the said upcoming local government elections in Lagos State. Most importantly, INEC’s actions are contemptuous and if allowed to continue, erodes public trust and belief in the Country’s electoral and judicial system as it now sits on appeal on Court’s judgements relating to Youth Party’s judgements. It chooses which judgement to obey like it just did with swiftness against Prof. Soludo in Anambra State. Fairness and justice are important for the progress of our Nation. 

Consequently, our Party, again, approached the Federal High Court in its bid to ensure participation in the forthcoming Lagos Council Election fixed for 24th July, 2021, and compel INEC and LASIEC’s to respect the rule of law, particularly obedience of judicial decisions. This Country belongs to all of us.

The Federal High Court, Lagos, in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/625, before His Lordship, Honourable Justice Akintayo Aluko, granted an order of injunction in a case filed by the Youth Party on Monday, 12^th July, 2021. The Court ruled and granted our prayers after the application was argued eloquently by Chief Bolaji Ayorinde, S.A.N., wherein he narrated the “travails of the Youth”, that:

‘INEC and LASIEC are restrained whether by themselves, their agents, privies, employees, officers or anyone whosoever acting for them and on their behalf from conducting the forthcoming Lagos State Local Government elections scheduled for 24th July, 2021 or any other elections whatsoever to the exclusion of the Applicant.

In essence, any election conducted to the exclusion of Youth Party would be illegal, null and void: an exercise in futility. 

But the shamelessness and desperation of INEC is unabated. INEC filed a notice of appeal and application for stay of execution at the Supreme Court on Thursday, 15^th July,2021, after it has refused to obey the judgment. Now, every lawyer knows that a notice of appeal is not an appeal. An appeal is only entered when the records of the lower court has been transmitted to the appellate Court. Also, an appeal does not amount to a stay of execution. Most importantly, there is nothing to execute in the judgment as it is declaratory in nature and an application for stay is manifestly inapplicable

It is noteworthy that until the judgment against INEC is set aside, the position of the law is that Youth Party remains a registered political party in Nigeria and it is entitled to all the rights and privileges of a registered political party in Nigeria. Most importantly, INEC’s position is in flagrant breach of our members’ fundamental right to freedom of association as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution and as guaranteed by the United Nations Declaration. 

Disenfranchisement of the Youth through the Belated Continuous Voters Registration

Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) is an exercise meant for the registration of citizens who turned 18years of age after the last registration exercise; or those who for one reason or another could not register in the previous exercise. INEC released the modalities for running this exercise all year round through the local government offices in 2017 but none was done aside from the token exercise carried out in 2017 before the last election in 2019 (4 years ago).

Now, INEC opened up the registration process again on 28^th June, 2021, where people can register but THEY CANNOT VOTE. They are to register online and come in for the capturing of their photographs on 25^th July, 2021. Elections are happening in Lagos and Ogun States and it is only people registered before the 2019 elections that can vote. Lagos local government council elections are fixed for 24^th July, 2021-a day before your photograph can be mischievously captured. 

These new registered voters are mostly youth. A glance at the statistics of registered and registering voters reveals that the youth consists  of more than 65% of the total voters. The newly registered voters have been precluded by devious administrative fiat. INEC ensured that no CVR took place before now and ensures that the voters’ register to be used is the pre-2019 registers. 

Section 78 (7) of the Electoral Bill is the Death of Any Youth Focused Party  

The proposed provision which INEC is desperate to push through to kill the organic growth of political parties in Nigeria and subject everyone to the whims and caprices of APC and PDP requires a new party to win the presidency, governorship, national or State House of Assembly seat to continue existing. A party would not need to crawl before it walks? How would any newly registered party fulfil this requirement? How? They should just state that they are banning registration of new parties and deleting the constitutional provision for freedom of association instead of registering parties with the sole aim of deregistering them afterwards in bad faith.

Also, the desperation extends to breaching the extant constitutional provision on de-registration of Parties.

It will suffice to state that Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Fourth Amendment), gives INEC the powers to deregister a political party for-

• Breach of any of the requirement for registration;
• Failure to win at least twenty-five percent of votes cast in-
• One state of the Federation in a presidential election;
• One local government of the state in a governorship election.

(c) Failure to win at least-

• One ward in the Chairmanship election;
• One seat in the National or State House of Assembly election; or (iii) One seat in the Councillorship election.

The conflict between the constitutional provision above and the said Section 78 (7a) of the Bill is easily resolved in favour of the Constitution. But INEC based on its antecedents would deploy the illegal law and ask people to go to Court, which they have no respect for anyways.  Furthermore, limiting required winning to the Presidency, Governorship, National or State House of Assembly seat is bad policy as it will constitute a further restriction of the democratic space.

Also, deregistration of political parties which fail to meet constitutional requirements should be done through the Court. Not through an agency run by people appointed by their opponents. Deregistration is like taking life of a political association and it should not be done casually. Only a court can withdraw a banking license, not the Central Bank of Nigeria. We cannot complain that most political parties are an assembly of strange bed fellows, and at the same time discourage the organic growth and development of serious political parties that are committed to growing over a reasonable period of time. What is the issue with allowing political parties at least 5 years to win a seat?  Why is INEC reducing the functions and performance of Parties to ONLY winning elections? And we complain about desperate politicians when their regulator is creating the atmosphere. The functions of  political Parties include developing policies and ideas to move the country forward and acting as an effective opposition to the government of the day. Government is only as good as its opposition. 

Right to freedom of association is a constitutionally guaranteed fundamental human right pursuant to Section 40 of the Constitution. It should not be taken away without fair hearing as required by Section 36 of the Constitution. Failure to adhere to the spirit and letters of the aforesaid constitutionally-guaranteed rights would not only continue to restrict the democratic space but lead to avoidable and needless litigations. People with different political ideologies are being systemically forced to merge or die as they are not allowed to grown on their own, if INEC is allowed to have its way. For  

Whilst the number of political parties in Nigeria, which stood at 91(Ninety-One) at the last election, generated a lot of concern,  it is noteworthy that more advanced electoral systems have similar  numbers, for instance South Africa has 93, Brazil 33, USA 32, Ghana 24 and even the UK has 18 political Parties. The number of Parties is not a problem but the lack of proper and unbiased oversight. For example, many of the parties registered by INEC did not have verifiable offices as required by law and their officers were place holders. Similarly, many of the parties don’t file their financial records as required by law. We would not have had many unworthy parties, if INEC was carrying out its oversight role diligently. Waging war against the Youth is a bad omen for the Country and INEC should be called to order. 

In summary, INEC should be advised to allow the youth to participate in the political space in the interest of the Country: obey court orders by allowing Youth Party to participate; allow the youth to vote after registration; and, withdraw Section 78(7) of the Electoral Bill. The resort to tokenism of lowering the age of eligibility or asking for quotas in the bigger parties can only help, if there is a level playing field. INEC should also be advised to play its statutory impartial role as electoral umpire instead descending into the arena of political contests. On our part, we are committed to democratic processes and the respect for the rule of law. Most importantly, we believe in the expansion of the democratic space, where plural voices are encouraged. Sadly, the converse is the case today in Nigeria.