By Eric Teniola

From last week continues the narrative on the fallouts of the promulgation of Decree 32 of July 23, 1979 which created an electoral college to decide the presidential election of that year 

FOR section 2: of the Electoral (Amendment) Decree 1979, that is Decree No. 26 of 1979, there shall be substituted the following, that is— “Citation: This Decree may be cited as the Electoral (Amendment)  – (No. 2) Decree 1979.” The Electoral (Amendment) Decree 1979, that is Decree No. 15 of 1979, is hereby consequentially repealed. This Decree may be cited as the Electoral (Amendment) (No, 3) Decree1979. Made at Lagos this 23rd day of July 1979.  General O Obasanjo, Head of the Federal Military Government, ‘ Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria.  The Decree amends the Electoral Decree 1977 to provide that in the case of a run-off election relative to the President, all persons elected to the National Assembly and State Assemblies shall be constituted into electoral colleges to elect one of the two most successful candidates as President while in the case of a Governor, the persons elected to the House of Assembly. of the State concerned shall similarly be constituted into an electoral college for the run-off election”.

There were five major contenders in the 1979 Presidential Election- Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim (The Great Nigeria Peoples Party, GNPP); Alhaji Aminu Kano (Peoples Redemption Party, PRP); Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe (The Nigerian Peoples Party, NPP; Chief Obafemi Awolowo (Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN); and Alhaji Shehu Shagari(National Party of Nigeria, NPN). On August 11, 1979, the Presidential election was held. Chief Michael Ani and his team, including the then Chief electoral officer, Alhaji Ahmadu Kurfi, who was then the Secretary of the Federal Electoral Commission, thought they have conducted the best election ever. On August 12, the results started coming in and as expected, the results of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo,Ondo and Bendel states were the first to be announced. It was not until August 14, 1979, that the results of Kano, which was the last to come and Alhaji Shehu Shagari only scored 19.9 per cent of the votes which made it impossible for him to be declared President since he had 25 per cent in 12 states and could not secure 25 per cent in Kano State. There were 19 states in the Federation at that time. The assumption was that you must secure 25 per cent in 13 states before you could become President.

The night before Chief Michael Ani’s FEDECO had completed arrangements for an Electoral College for the two candidates with the highest votes, Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the NPN and Chief Obafemi Awolowo of the UPN. As a matter of fact their spokesmen, Alhaji Suleiman Takuma (April 14,1934- September 1,2001), from Takuma Village in Niger State of the NPN and Chief Mele Chukelu Kafu Ajuluchukwu (February 10, 1921-October 9, 2003) from Nnewi in Anambra State of the UPN, addressed the media that their Principals were ready for an Electoral College. The newly appointed Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Gidado Idris, was at FEDECO headquarters to collect the names of the elected members of the National Assembly who would now vote in the Electoral College. He told newsmen that the list of the members of the Electoral College has been given to him and that the former House of Representatives at Race Course would be the venue for the holding of the Electoral College. The Supreme Military Council did not want to take chances on who should be the next President. 

The Supreme Military Council then headed by General Olusegun Obasanjo, drafted officials of the Federal Ministry of Justice to the Federal Electoral Commission, FEDECO, office at Onikan, Lagos. At the end of the marathon meeting, the Chief Returning Officer of the Presidential Election, Mr. F.L.O. Menkiti, announced to the anxious media men and women that day that the percentage scored by Alhaji Shehu Shagari in the 12 states and the 19.9 per cent scored in Kano was tantamount to his being declared as President. He, therefore, declared Alhaji Shehu Shagari as the next President of Nigeria.

The declaration was a nullity to the Decree signed by General Obasanjo on July 23, 1979. The expectation was that there would be an Electoral College which would elect a new President.  At the press conference that day, I sat next to Chief Osuolale Abimbola Richard Akinjide SAN (November 4, 1930 – April 21, 2020). Chief Akinjide who was then the Chief Legal Adviser to the NPN, only echoed the conclusion of the officials of the Federal Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Military Council. He was not the author of the 12 two third formula, which later made him famous. Nobody knew who Chief Menkiti was until that day. I later learned through gazette No 78, Volume 55 of 1976, that he was an administrative officer grade 1. He was transferred from the Eastern State Public Service to the Federal Public Service on February 27, 1967.

In the modern day regulation, he would have been a director. When Chief Menkiti made that announcement that day, we were stunned; Chief Menkiti’s declaration was expectedly challenged by Chief Obafemi Awolowo of the UPN. The case ended in the Supreme Court presided over by Mr. Justice Atanda Fatai Williams(October 22, 1918 – April 10, 2002) of which two judges in the court, Justice Kayode Eso (1925-2012) and Justice Andrew Otutu Obaseki (1925-2017) objected to the majority judgement in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court verdict was made 72 hours before the inauguration of President Shagari. 

I covered the 1979 campaign, the Supreme Court judgement and the inauguration of President Shagari(February 25, 1925 – December 28, 2018) on October 1 1979. In spite of his success in the August 11, 1979 election, Chief Michael Ani had no hand in what happened after the election.  This year will mark the 30th anniversary of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Professor Humphrey Nwobu Nwosu (81) from Ajali in Anambra State conducted the election and he did all he could in ensuring a successful presidential election.

He wrote in his book titled Laying The Foundation For Nigeria’s Democracy:  “Given the peculiar position of the chief electoral officer in Nigeria, which includes being an impartial arbiter in electoral competitions, it became clear to me that whatever major decisions and actions the chief electoral officer decides to take, must serve the best interest of Nigerian state and nation. My actions and decisions throughout my tenure were directed to serve the corporate existence of Nigeria. It is the duty of the chief national electoral commissioner of the federation to advise the Nigerian government on actions and measures that will not only enhance the existence of a credible electoral system but which will result in the conduct of free and fair elections.”