Simon Ejembi
The decision of the All Progressives Candidate governorship candidate in the ongoing governorship election in Kogi State, Abubakar Audu, to openly display his ballot paper after thumb-printing is wrong, according to a election monitoring group, the Situation Room.
The Situation Room is a platform of civil society organisations working on elections, good governance and other issues in Nigeria.
Audu had shown off his ballot paper, which showed he voted for himself, to a cheering crowd at his polling unit.
Replying a tweet containing a photo of Audu displaying his thumb-printed ballot paper, the group wrote, “This is wrong… Voting should be secret. #KogiDecides.”
Although there are 22 candidates vying to become governor of the state, Audu and the incumbent governor, Capt. Idris Wada, are the main contenders.
A former banker, Audu, 68, has been elected governor of the state twice.
He was governor from January 1992 until 1993 under Nigeria’s failed third republic and from May 1999 to May 2003.
The Independent Electoral Commission, explaining how to vote on its website, said voting would be by open secret ballot system, adding among other things, “Your vote is secret because no one will see which candidate you choose.”
Its electoral offences and penalties, however, did not say anything about the voluntary display of ballot paper and the choice made.
Lagos-based lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, however, said there was no need to try to make a mountain out of a molehill.
“The law deals with substance and not frivolities,” he said.
He explained that at the polling station, there were ways and manners in which voters and candidates were meant to conduct themselves.
He said, “The circumstances of the conduct of the APC candidate being reviewed, I do not think and I cannot come to the conclusion that the mere display of his paper, perhaps out of excitement, is an act of electoral misconduct on his part or an act that should attract sanctions by the electoral body or election tribunal if he does win the election.”
The decision of the All Progressives Candidate governorship candidate in the ongoing governorship election in Kogi State, Abubakar Audu, to openly display his ballot paper after thumb-printing is wrong, according to a election monitoring group, the Situation Room.
The Situation Room is a platform of civil society organisations working on elections, good governance and other issues in Nigeria.
Audu had shown off his ballot paper, which showed he voted for himself, to a cheering crowd at his polling unit.
Replying a tweet containing a photo of Audu displaying his thumb-printed ballot paper, the group wrote, “This is wrong… Voting should be secret. #KogiDecides.”
Although there are 22 candidates vying to become governor of the state, Audu and the incumbent governor, Capt. Idris Wada, are the main contenders.
A former banker, Audu, 68, has been elected governor of the state twice.
He was governor from January 1992 until 1993 under Nigeria’s failed third republic and from May 1999 to May 2003.
The Independent Electoral Commission, explaining how to vote on its website, said voting would be by open secret ballot system, adding among other things, “Your vote is secret because no one will see which candidate you choose.”
Its electoral offences and penalties, however, did not say anything about the voluntary display of ballot paper and the choice made.
Lagos-based lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, however, said there was no need to try to make a mountain out of a molehill.
“The law deals with substance and not frivolities,” he said.
He explained that at the polling station, there were ways and manners in which voters and candidates were meant to conduct themselves.
He said, “The circumstances of the conduct of the APC candidate being reviewed, I do not think and I cannot come to the conclusion that the mere display of his paper, perhaps out of excitement, is an act of electoral misconduct on his part or an act that should attract sanctions by the electoral body or election tribunal if he does win the election.”
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