Ngige, Olanipekun, Falana, Adegboruwa Raise Eyebrows As INEC Extends Deadlines For Party Primaries

* INEC Owes It A Duty To The Country To Demonstrate Its Independence And Impartiality. What Has Happened Is A Case Of The Witch Cried Yesterday And The Child Died Today – Falana
* INEC Is Not Able To Grasp The Essence Of Its Powers Under The Law – Adegboruwa
*Olanipekun Says INEC Did Not Violate Any Law, As Ngige Allays Allegations Of Soft-Landing For APC
Over the weekend, many prominent Nigerian lawyers and civil society organizations raised questions about the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give political parties more time to organize their primaries.
Recall that INEC had on Friday, 27th of May extended the June 3 deadline for the conduct of primary election by political parties for about one week, shifting the new date to June 9, 2022.
Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee announced this in statement on after earlier meeting with the political parties where the request was made. Okoye said the Commission did not schedule any specific activity during the period between June 3 and 9, hence the request was granted the political parties.
The decision came on the heels of previous statements from the electoral umpire insisting that the June 3rd deadline is sacrosanct and would not be extended, and has since elicited reactions from stakeholders.
In various interviews with Sunday PUNCH the Senior Advocates wondered why INEC, which had previously promised not to move the deadline, had gone ahead and done so.
The lawyers interviewed include Femi Falana SAN, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa SAN, Wole Olanipekun SAN, and Chief Emeka Ngige SAN who gave separate responses to the vexed issue.
In the interview, INEC’s decision to extend the deadline after the APC postponed their screening for presidential hopefuls was questioned by human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN).
He said: “INEC owes it a duty to the country to demonstrate its independence and impartiality. What has happened is a case of the witch cried yesterday and the child died today. The APC had postponed its screening of candidates. Barely 24 hours later, INEC postponed the deadline for primaries.
“INEC will have to convince the public of its readiness to operate without interference from anybody. INEC must not let the ruling party, lawyers or the courts subvert the democratic process,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN) alleged that it was obvious that INEC extended the deadline to favour the ruling All Progressives Congress, which had not even begun the process of conducting its presidential primary.
Adegboruwa said, “I think that INEC is not able to grasp the essence of its powers under the law. The word ‘independent’, as used by the constitution with respect to the National Electoral Commission, was used deliberately. It is also stated in the same constitution that ‘in the performance of its statutory duty, INEC shall not be under the control or direction of any person or authority’.
“Unfortunately, judging from how INEC is conducting its affairs, it is treating other political parties unfairly. For example, PDP delegates were already in Abuja in preparation for the primaries. If they had an inkling that the primary elections deadline would be postponed and the timetable extended, I am sure that they would have adjusted themselves.
“Hence it is not out of place to suggest that INEC colluded with the APC in order to throw the PDP into some kind of trap so that the candidate of the PDP for the presidential elections would become known and that would give the APC some kind of unfair advantage.”
Also, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), condemned INEC for postponing the deadline, but said he didn’t think that INEC infringed on any law.
Olanipekun said, “As a lawyer, have they (INEC) infringed on any law? No. However,  INEC must not create the impression inadvertently, deliberately or otherwise, consciously or otherwise, that it has given this extension because of a particular political party.”
He added, “You know, the confidence of the people in INEC is being eroded. I think this type of decision will make people lose their confidence in it.”
But Chief Emeka Ngige (SAN), said, “I don’t think it is right for people to say it (the extension) was to favour the ruling APC; it will favour more than the APC, as there are other parties that are yet to conduct their primary elections like the Labour Party and others who are trying to get their acts together.”
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