#NigeriaDecides2023: President Buhari, Ortom Comes Under Fire For Displaying Ballot Papers

President Muhammadu Buhari and the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, have come under fire for displaying their ballot papers at the presidential and National Assembly elections held on Saturday.

Naija News gathered from a Punch report that some lawyers faulted the open display of ballot papers by both men yesterday after they cast their votes.

They said even though it would not affect election results, it was a wrong and inappropriate act for them to openly show their ballot papers.

According to them, it’s a secret ballot in which no one is supposed to know who their votes were cast for.

One of them, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Babatunde Fashanu said “It’s a secret balloting, you are supposed to go there, do your voting in secret and drop the paper and nobody is supposed to see who you voted for.

“It was wrong of the President to do that, but whatever the reason why he did that, it is not a justification for him to show whom he voted for. It is not done, I am clear on that; it’s wrong. It’s illegal. What he did is uncalled for.

“Talking about the governors, if it’s true that some of them were with their phones, definitely that’s against the INEC regulations. When we are talking about voting,

“Everybody is equal. But even if that is done, you are not supposed to breach the rule that says don’t take phones there. You are not supposed to do it because when it comes to voting, the governors, president and everybody are equal in that area.

“My view on it is that if it happened, it’s a bad example and it’s illegal. But then when we are talking of a borrowed election, I don’t think anybody will go to the tribunal and say that because the governor was there with a phone, they should nullify the election of that polling unit.

“If you try that, the tribunal will tell you that it is substantial compliance that the law cares about. Even though it might have happened, it doesn’t mean that it will affect the elections in that unit. That is my view on it but it is wrong.’’

Another SAN identified as Chief Niyi Akintola also explained that the president and governor did not substantially comply with the INEC rules and guidelines.

Akintola stated that “What do the photographs taken by anybody have to do with the elections? Everybody is entitled to vote. I cannot compare you and you cannot compare me to voting for anybody. Though the act is not in accordance with the rule, how has that affected the election? The rules and electoral act talk of substantial compliance, but it has not affected anybody.

“The display by any governor if he voted for any presidential candidate will not affect any voter, I will vote my conscience and that applies to every other person too. This is a president that was being blackmailed every now and then, so he decided to show everybody.’’

For Mike Ozekhome (SAN) the president and Ortom’s acts were illegal, noting that according to the Electoral Act, a section of the electoral act states that a voter cannot display the person he or she voted for.

He said, “What Buhari and Ortom have done is wrong and illegal under the Electoral Act, a section that states that you cannot display the person you voted for.

“There is a saying that the left hand must not allow the right hand to know what it is doing. What they have done is illegal; in any event, ordinarily, they should be prosecuted because it is an electoral crime which is subject to imprisonment. But because they are President and governor respectively, covered by section 308 of the 1999 constitution, they cannot be prosecuted now but they can be prosecuted after May 29 when they leave office.

“So what the President and the governor did is uncalled for and it is leading by bad example. They don’t have to be overzealous to show who they are voting for by displaying their cards because that also amounts to campaigning for their candidates.

“Campaigns stop 48 hours to election day, so for you to be displaying your voter card or who you are voting for, especially for the President of a whole country, it is a crime.”