Bauchi's Governor Abubakar threatens to sue INEC over supplementary election

After the collation of results for the March 9 election, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bala Mohammed, polled 469,512 votes while second-placed Governor Abubakar, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), polled 465,453 votes, leaving the margin of victory at 4,059 votes.

According to the "Margin of Lead Principle" contained in Sections 26 and 53 of the Electoral Act and paragraph 41(e) and 43(b) of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines, the commission cannot declare a winner if the number of cancelled votes can mathematically affect the outcome of the election.

On Tuesday, March 12, INEC announced that the supplementary election would take place in Bauchi on March 23, along with five other states (Adamawa, Benue, Kano, Plateau and Sokoto) where governorship elections were similarly inconclusive.

However, the Bauchi election was cancelled three days later after INEC decided to approve the resumption, conclusion and announcement of result for the Tafawa Balewa local government area of the state which was initially cancelled due to the improper collation of results.

INEC also discovered that the number of cancelled votes for four polling units in Ningi LGA was recorded as 25,330 even though the actual figure was actually 2,533.

President Muhammadu Buhari met with Governor Abubakar on Monday [Twitter/@BashirAhmaad] Pulse Nigeria

After a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa on Monday, March 18, Governor Abubakar said he's considering legal action against INEC for interfering with the decision of the returning officer, Prof. Mohammed Kyari.

"I am a lawyer and I am pursuing the legal angle. I briefed him and he emphasised on that legal angle that it is the best way to go," he said.

He said INEC's decision is "extra illegal" because only a court could take the decision that it did by cancelling the supplementary election after the initial inconclusive verdict.

"It is a straight forward matter. The returning officer is the final arbiter even with respect to scores and declaration of result. And once he makes a declaration, no power can reverse that declaration except duly constituted court of the land," he said.

The governor said he briefed President Buhari about the situation without expecting any special favours as the decision has the potential of touching on the security of the state.

He expressed confidence that he would win the supplementary election over his opponent who is in the lead and could end his second term ambition when the collation of results is resumed on Tuesday, March 19.