Pre-election matters should have no place in our courts – NBA president

Afam Osigwe, president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has called for sweeping judicial reforms to address the growing backlog of cases in Nigerian courts, including a review of the role of the judiciary in pre-election matters and the scope of cases that should reach the Supreme Court.

In a recent interview with Arise TV, Osigwe criticised the overwhelming number of cases that flood the courts, particularly pre-election disputes, which he believes should be handled internally by political parties rather than being justiciable.

“Personally, I am of the view that pre-election matters should not have any place in our courts, that the political parties should be able to choose their candidates, and those that are aggrieved should resort to internal redistribution mechanisms within the political parties,” he said.

According to Osigwe, the judiciary is burdened by election-related cases, which disrupt the hearing of other matters, delay justice, and place undue pressure on judges.

“During the periods that the federal high court hears these cases, they have to largely suspend the hearing of most other cases, and it puts a lot of pressure and burden on the judges,” he noted.

He urged the judiciary and the legal profession to champion reforms that would limit the types of cases that reach the courts, suggesting that the ongoing constitutional amendment process by the National Assembly could be an opportunity to address these issues.

“At this age and time, I don’t see why customary law issues, landlord and tenant issues, just every matter should go all the way to the Supreme Court,” Osigwe argued. “We should be able to determine the nature of cases that should go on appeal to our courts, and the cases that should not go beyond the appellate courts, so that we reduce the burden on our courts.”

Osigwe pointed to the American judicial system as a possible model, where the Supreme Court determines which cases it will hear within a judicial year. He suggested that Nigeria should adopt a similar approach to prevent excessive case delays.

“We can’t have a situation where cases take 12 to 15 years to be determined,” he said. “Matters that should go to a Supreme Court should be matters that raise constitutional issues, matters that require that the Supreme Court should establish rules and make for certainty, especially where there have been conflicting decisions of the appellate court. But every case should not find their way to the Supreme Court.”

Osigwe called for urgent discussions among stakeholders, including the judiciary, the NBA, and other relevant bodies, to push for reforms that would improve the efficiency of the legal system.

“Maybe we should have that hard conversation at this time,” he said. “Maybe the judiciary and the NBA and other concerned bodies should have a role to play to bring about these reforms.”