Readers are Leaders - by Tari Ogbowei

It is no news that the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi has chosen Doyin Okupe as his running mate while Ahmed Tinubu of the APC has chosen Kabiru Ibrahim Musa in order to beat the ultimatum given to political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to submit the names of their presidential running mates. While it is widely known that this selection is being used as a "placeholder" while negotiations and consultations for the "perfect" running mate are ongoing. It is being touted in some quarters, especially from political opponents that once a name has been submitted to the INEC as a running mate it can't be substituted. Having a conversation with some older friends a few days ago, the issue was brought up and I was told certain persons even went as far as highlighting some portions of the recently amended Electoral Act to back up their claims. I was perplexed, although I still tried to argue that these candidates had very powerful teams, advising and guiding every decision so I doubt they wouldn't have considered this. Yet, I couldn't make informed arguments as I wasn't armed with the right information. Just this morning, I got a hold of the Electoral Act and I've spent the larger part of the day going through it. It would interest you to know that there is actually nowhere it is stated in there that a VP running mate or any other candidate cannot be replaced. Although, for a candidate to be replaced, it must either be in the event of death or a withdrawal by the said candidate, and it must be done at least 3 months to the election. Section 31 of the 2022 Electoral Act as amended states: 31. "A candidate may withdraw his or her candidature by notice in writing signed by him and delivered personally by the candidate to the political party that nominated him for the election and the political party shall convey such withdrawal to the Commission not later than 90 days to the election." Section 33 goes further to say that in the event of death or a withdrawal, the political party has 14 days to submit the name of a new candidate as replacement. Section 33 below: 33. A political party shall not be allowed to change or substitute its candidate whose name has been submitted under section 29 of this Act, except in the case of death or withdrawal by the candidate: Provided that in the case of such withdrawal or death of a candidate, the political party affected shall, within 14 days of the occurrence of the event, hold a fresh primary election to produce and submit a fresh candidate to the Commission for the election concerned. When you take a second look at section 33, it becomes obvious that a part can easily be cut out like this: 33. A political party shall not be allowed to change or substitute its candidate whose name has been submitted under section 29 of this Act. This changes the context as well as the entire meaning. It becomes easy for a mischievous person to distort the information and misinform. Ever heard the saying, "Half truth is no truth". Sometimes, one wonders the purpose of such misinformation when we live in the jet age where the internet has made it possible for information to be accessed within seconds. This being true, it also true that a lot of people do not read and only rely on hearsays, then go ahead to present these hearsays as facts. Based on this, the sources of these misdirection know how easy it is for fake news to spread, and bank on it to further their goals in weakening the morale as well the followership of their opposition. It is then necessary for all to furnish themselves with relevant documents and articles when exposed to information which they're not very comfortable with. As the old saying goes, readers are leaders.

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