Human
rights lawyer, Femi Falana has said no leader in Nigeria can annul
elections in the country as was the case in 1993. Falana disclosed this
at the inauguration of the League of Anambra Professionals Legal
Defence Initiative, held in Lagos on Monday adding that for fear of ICC,
no Nigerian leader dared annul election again like a former Head of
State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), did in 1993. He also dismissed
the fear that President Muhammadu Buhari might be unwilling to leave
office if he should lose next year’s election. Falana said, “unlike in
1993 when the military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, successfully
annulled an election, that is no longer possible. Whoever does that now
will end up in The Hague.He is likely to be tried for crimes against
humanity because if you annul an election, you are likely to have a
monumental violence in the country which will lead to crimes against
humanity.Before the 2015 elections, the ICC warned that if there was any
problem in Nigeria, anybody who was responsible would be arrested and
charged like former President Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d’Ivoire. That was
the atmosphere under which President Goodluck conceded victory.”Falana
said he decided to speak on the issue in order to assure Nigerians that
election could no longer be annulled in Nigeria. This, he said, was
important because of the fear that had been expressed that if Buhari
lost election, he might not want to hand over. “That belongs to the
past,” he declared.2019: No one can annul elections in Nigeria again “ Femi Falana
Human
rights lawyer, Femi Falana has said no leader in Nigeria can annul
elections in the country as was the case in 1993. Falana disclosed this
at the inauguration of the League of Anambra Professionals Legal
Defence Initiative, held in Lagos on Monday adding that for fear of ICC,
no Nigerian leader dared annul election again like a former Head of
State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), did in 1993. He also dismissed
the fear that President Muhammadu Buhari might be unwilling to leave
office if he should lose next year’s election. Falana said, “unlike in
1993 when the military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, successfully
annulled an election, that is no longer possible. Whoever does that now
will end up in The Hague.He is likely to be tried for crimes against
humanity because if you annul an election, you are likely to have a
monumental violence in the country which will lead to crimes against
humanity.Before the 2015 elections, the ICC warned that if there was any
problem in Nigeria, anybody who was responsible would be arrested and
charged like former President Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d’Ivoire. That was
the atmosphere under which President Goodluck conceded victory.”Falana
said he decided to speak on the issue in order to assure Nigerians that
election could no longer be annulled in Nigeria. This, he said, was
important because of the fear that had been expressed that if Buhari
lost election, he might not want to hand over. “That belongs to the
past,” he declared.
