Accord chieftain Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has declared that no administrative action by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can extinguish his candidacy for the 2027 presidential election.
Hashim was reacting to his exclusion from the final list of presidential candidates published by INEC at the weekend.
In a statement in Abuja, yesterday, Hashim described the development as a matter that remains subject to judicial determination, insisting that he remains the duly nominated presidential candidate of the Accord.
‘I am the candidate of the Accord. No one can exclude me from the 2027 presidential election. The court will do justice,’ he said.
Hashim said Nigeria’s constitutional democracy does not confer on INEC an overriding power of ‘finality’ over disputes concerning who emerges as a political party’s candidate.
According to him, the adjudicatory powers vested in the courts exist precisely to prevent administrative decisions from becoming instruments of impunity or a means of foreclosing legitimate political rights.
‘Our democracy does not give INEC any right of finality over who stands as the candidate of a political party. Where there is a dispute over the emergence or exclusion of a candidate, the adjudicatory functions of the courts are provided precisely to prevent impunity and to ensure that no administrative process becomes a pre-planned mechanism for keeping particular candidates off the ballot.
‘We have seen this before. In the last Osun governorship election, the courts intervened in circumstances where candidates initially excluded from INEC’s processes were subsequently restored to the ballot. That is why nobody should assume that an administrative publication by INEC is the final word in a matter that is before the courts.’
Hashim has taken the matter before the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking, among other reliefs, an order compelling the Accord to recognise him as its presidential candidate and transmit his name to INEC. The case has been heard and reserved for judgment.
His case is based on his contention that he was the winner of Accord’s presidential primary conducted on May 30, after paying the prescribed nomination fee, with the exercise monitored by INEC officials.
Hashim said his legal battle, therefore, goes beyond his personal political ambition, describing it as a test of the integrity of political party primaries, internal democracy and the constitutional right of Nigerians to freely choose their preferred presidential candidate.
He called on his supporters and Nigerians who believe in democratic choice to remain calm, assuring them that he would continue to pursue the matter through constitutional and legal means.
‘We will not be intimidated, we will not be distracted and we will not surrender a legitimate democratic right because somebody has published a list.
‘The court will speak, and when it does, we will abide by the judgment.’
The Accord had disputed Hashim claim, saying he did not conduct any presidential primary and could not have had a presidential candidate.
The party added that the nomination fee paid by Hashim after nomination had closed, was returned to him.
During its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting hosted by Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke in July, the NEC of Accord reaffirmed that the party had no presidential candidate.