Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of seeking to turn Nigeria into a one party state.
Fayose also accused the President of using the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami to induce the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) decision on the inconclusive Kogi State Governorship election.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said Buhari is “fraudulently using the AGF to carry out an act which amounted to amending the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria and the Electoral Act 2010 to advance his ambition and that of his party to turn Nigeria to a one party state.”
He explained that “only the Supreme Court can resolve issues not envisaged by the Constitution like the one that happened concerning the Kogi State governorship election.”
He also added that “INEC further exposed its partisanship and undependability by relying on legal advice from the AGF, a man who has disobeyed the court severally and an interested party in the Kogi State election being a personal lawyer of President Buhari and a member of the All Progressives Congress.”
He further explained that “INEC should either conclude the election with APC not having a candidate or hold a fresh election with APC nominating a new governorship candidate. Anything outside these two options will mean that the Supreme Court must intervene.
“Section 33 of the Electoral Act only provided for substitution of a dead candidate before election, not during election. Also, the running mate would have become the governor-elect if the governorship candidate had been duly elected before he died. But in this case, the election was still in progress, meaning that Audu was a candidate like others when he died.
“Therefore, what INEC has done will mean that votes have now become an inheritance that the late APC governorship candidate, Abubakar Audu has willed to whoever that emerges as his substitute.
“It is like saying that Audu’s votes in the inconclusive election will now be inherited by another person. How logical is that?
“In a democracy, how can the Attorney General of the Federation and INEC turn themselves to the National Assembly that amends laws and the judiciary that interprets laws?
“The implication of all these is that it has become obvious that no one can get justice under this APC government and if this is the change they promised Nigerians, it appears that Nigeria is in serious trouble.”