Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has cautioned against the increasing tendency for the judiciary to determine the victors in Nigerian elections. Falana’s advice follows the recent Supreme Court ruling that proclaimed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election.
He offered this suggestions when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Friday, insisting that the determination of winners of election should be the exclusive right of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and not the law court.
“No doubt the judgment of the Supreme Court ascended the electoral contestation as far as the presidential election conducted in February this year is concerned, but for sure it is not a judicial endorsement of the conduct of the election by INEC.
“And what I mean is that even with the judgement, it is very clear that Nigeria has a long way to go in terms of ensuring that credible elections are conducted, elections that will be devoid of acrimony, elections that all of us will be proud of, but we are still a long way from there even with the judgement.
“Yes for now the presidential election is concluded, it should have been concluded in February, but it has just been concluded by the Supreme Court and it should not be so. The judiciary should not determine the winners of elections.
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“Judges are not suited to determine the winners of election; that is a job that is the exclusive reserve of INEC if things are done properly and that is why we must put an end to the shame that has become our law in terms of conducting elections,” Falana said.
The highly respected lawyer urged the nation to do the right thing because many countries on the African continent are looking up to the country to show the right way for them to follow.
He explained that conducting an election in Africa’s most populous nation should not be a hard thing to do, urging the political class to be honest and dedicated to conducting a transparent elections.
The seven-judge panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice John Okoro on Thursday upheld President Tinubu’s electoral victory election saying that the opposition appeals over claims of fraud, electoral law violations, and Tinubu’s ineligibility to run for President lacked merit.
