Supplementary polls in Imo legal, says Agbakoba

Jega tasks stakeholders on electionFORMER president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has described the supplementary election scheduled for Friday by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Imo State as legal. According to him, since the election is an offshoot of the inconclusive polls last week, within the constitutional framework, the exercise is still legal. Meanwhile, INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has urged all stakeholders to ensure the highest level of integrity and good conduct in the supplementary election to allow for the smooth conclusion of the governorship polls in Imo State. In a statement by secretary of the commission, Abudullahi Kaugama, INEC said the supplementary election was to give all eligible voters in the state the room to exercise their franchise and also make the process transparent enough. Addressing journalists in Lagos yesterday, Agbakoba said although the election technically, is out of the constitutional framework, it should hold since the Constitution does not state that election must be concluded before April 29. His words: The doomsayers looked for every imperfection and acts of violence to exaggerate the importance of every breach of the electoral process, but the conduct of this April election completely flawed the doomsayers grim analysis of mass electoral failure. The performance of 2011 was hybrid bronze and silver, which would not have been possible without the effort of the late President Umaru Musa YarAdua, transparency of President Goodluck Jonathan and the doggedness of Prof. Attahiru Jega. He urged President Jonathan to embark on key reforms if the nation is to experience real transformation. There is need for constitutional reforms, with major emphasis on unity through fine-tuning of our federal system, by decentralisation and devolution and also inauguration of a committee to work out a constitution. It is also imperative that there is electoral, financial service sector, anti-corruption reforms and provision of basic infrastructure, Agbakoba said. He also canvassed transformation of the judicial sector to restore public confidence in the judiciary by making it more efficient, responsible and accountable. Nigeria presently stands at the crossroads with President Jonathan. When the right road is taken, a creative volcano will erupt to take us into the dream Nigeria, he said.
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