What the law says about Vote Cancellation and re run in Nigeria. A THREAD
Generally election matters are "SUI GENERIS" ,election matters are special in nature, Election petition matters must be filed within 21 days of the declaration of results as seen in the case of ANPP V GONI.
The 1999 Constitution as Amended, The Electoral Act 2010 as amended and the INEC Election Guidelines are the major laws backing Election matters in Nigeria ,they highlight virtually every issue in relation to elections.
With time new things that were not anticipated come up ,Example the death of Audu during Kogi Election was never envisaged when the electoral Act was made, the closest Provision to death is Section 36 of the Electoral Act.
The Section says,If a Candidate dies before election starts a new date for the Election will be picked within 14 days .Luckily the new Electoral Act is going to have provision for the possibility of a Candidate dying during Election
One issue on the lips of many Nigerians both masses and Politicians is the issue of Inconclusive election, and I will like to break it down bit by bit for everyone to understand what the law says about it.
Inconclusive Election arises when the total number of cancelled vote is more than the winning margin.It was seen in Imo 2011,Anambra 2013,Abia 2015,Kogi 2015,Bayelsa 2015 and now Osun 2018.
In my humble opinion Inconclusive election arises because of the competitive nature of Nigerian Politics.
The INEC General Election guidelines of 2015 in Section 37 (1)N says "When the number of cancelled votes in a Presidential election is more than the winning margin a re run will occur.
Furthermore Section 44 (1) N of the Guideline says" If the cancelled votes are more than the winning Margin in a Governorship Election a re run shall occur in the areas the votes were cancelled
However the same Guideline in Section 40 which talks about Senatorial election and Section 42 which talks about House of Representative election is silent on the issue of the re run in the case in which cancelled votes are more than the winning margin and i will highlight why.
Legislative elections use Absolute majority this was why Kogi bye Election which had more Cancelled votes than the winning margin stood, however simple majority is used for Executive Elections that is why you need 1/4 of votes in 2/3 States or LGA to win .
While in Legislative Election all you need is highest votes As seen in Section 65 of the 1999 Constitution as Amended ,reason kogi bye election stood . However Saraki saying he is a layman on this issue is funny to me and I shall highlight why.
INEC is established by Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution by an enactment from the National Assembly and all laws made by INEC are approved by the National Assembly in which Saraki is the leader,so how can the leader say he is a layman on this issue ?
Furthermore Section 153 of the electoral Act which was approved by the Senate gives INEC the powers to make Guidelines that will Govern elections,so how can the Senate President claim to be unaware of such guidelines?
Above is Section 53 of rhe electoral Act sub (2) says when over voting occurs like it happened in some polling units in Ife North and South the result the Election should be declared void and a new date set, so why is PDP acting like they are unaware? 
On the issue of Disenfranchisement which happened at Oshogbo ward 5,and in Orolu,Article 21 of the UDHR which Nigeria has ratified says"The will of the people shall be expressed through Periodic and Genuine elections"
Also the International Covenant of Civil and Politicial Rights which also Nigeria has ratified into its laws in Article 25 says " Every Citizen has a right to vote and be elected in a genuine periodic election
Now coming home Section 12 (1) Of the Electoral Act 2010 and Section 77 of our Constitution says If you are above 18 and registered to vote,you have every right to vote and be voted for, I wonder if Osun people are different?
Moving forward, I read in some quarters that the issue of re -run when cancelled votes is more than the winning margin is not backed by any Decided Case,but that assertion is false.
In the case of James Faleke V Inec and Ors (2016), The Supreme Court held that a Governorship Election can be inconclusive if it did not meet the INEC Election Guidelines.
One of my mentors Mike Ozeokheme SAN cited the case of Oshiomole V Osunbor 2007 to show that INEC was wrong to order a re-run but in my view this case is not applicable to Osun and i shall highlight why.
In the Case of Oshiomole V Osunbor the 32 cancelled votes were added to PDP votes ,that was why the Court ruled in Oshiomole's favour, while in this case INEC did not give anyone the votes rather they want both leading parties to contest for the votes,which is very fair.
In Conclusion with the above points i have highlighted I am of the view that ordering a re-run was the most equitable thing to do in line with the requirements of the law.Goodluck to both Parties at the Re-run, MAY THE BEST MAN WIN.
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