In a bid to escape the offence of double nomination, APC may risk an invalid nomination of Kashim Shettima as vice presidential candidate
By Israel Okah
As the parties in the Presidential Election Petition Court wind up their final addresses, the All Progressives Congress, APC, appears trapped in the web of thier own subterfuge.
In a bid to escape the offence of double nomination, the party appears at the risk of an invalid nomination of Kashim Shettima as vice presidential candidate of the party for the February 25 presidential election.
The Allied Peoples Movement, APM, concluded its final address on Friday, July 14 at the Presidential Election Petition Court and the Court reserved judgement.
APM wants the Court to disqualify Bola Tinubu’s presidential ticket on the ground that his vice, Shettima, was unlawfully nominated, having been nominated two times for the Senate and vice president.
The APM petition is seen by lawyers as banana peels for the APC and Tinubu with potentials to derail the presidential train. They argue that if APC escape double nomination, they will fall into invalid nomination. Whichever of the two is a grave danger for APC.
However, the respondents are not perturbed. They did not call any witness but relied on the May 26 judgement of the Supreme Court, which dismissed PDP’s petition against the alleged double nomination of Shettima as an internal party affair and lacking in merit.
However, senior lawyers argue that in the pleadings and final address, one fact remained consistent and all the parties were in concurrence. The 1st, 2nd 3rd and 4th Respondents all agreed that the “placeholder” for APCs’s vice presidential slot, Alhaji Masari, withdrew as placeholder on 24th of June, 2022. The replacement was made on 14th July, 2022. Between the withdrawal and replacement, a period of 21 days lapsed.
Section 142 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) provides that a presidential candidate is not qualified if he has not nominated another person to run with him/her as Vice President. So, without a vice presidential candidate duly selected by the Presidential Candidate, the ticket is invalid. So, in order to beat this provision and other requirements for time in the Electoral Act, 2022 that APC chose a “Placeholder” to secure the presidential ticket. Before his replacement, Alhaji Masari was the Vice Presidential Candidate of the APC in the eyes of our laws.
He withdraw as vice presidential candidate on the 24th of June, 2022.
Section 33 of the Electoral Act, 2022 mandates a political party whose Candidate withdraws to replace such a candidate within 14 days. 14 days is 14 days and no Court can extend such a time for anyone.
APM argued that as at the 14th day of July, 2022, APC had no valid Candidate for President as its Vice Presidential Candidate withdrew 21 days before a replacement was made, instead of within 14 days.
This means that in APCs’ attempt to evade double nomination, they may have fallen into invalid nomination.
In INEC’s final address, the Commission argued that APM did not plead that APC replaced its Vice Presidential Candidate outside 14 days allowed by law. However, APM tendered a copy of their petition where the facts were pleaded.
As the odds pile up against the Tinubu/Shettima ticket, it is left to be seen which argument the Court will uphold in their judgement.
