Disobedience simply means refusing or neglecting to obey rules and regulations.
When Alex Otti and supposed members of the Labour Party (LP) in Abia State were busy shouting: “We are obedient”, little did they know that, on the contrary, they were obediently disobedient to the electoral laws.
Even when the electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, cautioned them, reminding them of the consequences of not acting obediently, they refused to comply, particularly with Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2022.
In April 2022, INEC warned political parties wishing to conduct primaries for nomination of candidates for the 2023 elections, to submit their membership registers to the Commission or risk running foul of the law.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who gave the warning said: “Let me also seize this opportunity to remind political parties that by the provision of Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2022, each party is required to maintain a membership register in hard and soft copy and to make such register available to the Commission not later than 30 days before the date fixed for primaries, congresses and conventions.”
Section 77 of the Electoral Act 2022, is a new law that tends to cure the attitude of politicians jumping from one party to another after party primaries. The framers of the law, in their wisdom, saw the need to maintain decorum in the political and electoral system, with a view of ensuring that politicians who failed nominations in their political parties, do not constitute themselves into a nuisance, causing indecorum and disorder in the political and electoral process.
Section 77 (2) & (3) of the Electoral Act 2022 reads: “Every registered political party SHALL maintain a register of its members in both hard and soft copy” and that “Each political party SHALL make such register available to the Commission not later than 30 days before the date fixed for the party primaries, congresses or convention.”
According to INEC, the Abia State chapter of the Labour Party did not submit any membership register before the 2023 election. This much is revealed in a letter, Ref. No: INEC/DEPM/RC/745, dated 5th April 2023 and signed by Rose Oriaran-Anthony, Secretary to the Commission.
The letter which was a reply to an application by N.B Ugo & Co, seeking the certified true copies of the register of members of the Labour Party, Abia State as submitted to the commission, 30 days before the party’s primaries, reads:
Please refer to your letter dated 28 March 2023 requesting for the Certified True Copies of the Register of Members of the Labour Party ABIA State as submitted to the Commission.
This is to advise you that although the Labour Party submitted its Membership Register via letters dated 25 April 2022 and 5 May 2022 respectively, that of Abia State was not included.”
(CDA NEWS)
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