Election petitions in Nigeria take about 180 days from the date of filing the petition to the day judgement is delivered.
Some legal experts are of the opinion that there is a need for a review of the constitutional provisions to ensure justice can be delivered timely and election matters are decided before the inauguration of newly elected officers.
Citing examples from Ghana and Kenya, they said Nigeria may just be ripe for a constitutional amendment and reduce the time spent for election petitions.
Section 285 (6) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) states that “an election tribunal shall deliver its judgement in writing within 180 days from the date of the filing of the petition”.
The law further provides that “an appeal from the decision of an election tribunal or Court of Appeal in an election matter shall be heard and disposed of within 60 days from the date of delivery of judgement of the tribunal or Court of Appeal”.
It starts with the filing of an election petition. Section 285 (6) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria states that “an election petition shall be filed within 21 days after the date of the declaration of the result of elections”.
In Kenya, election petitions are determined within 14 days after the filing of the petition.
Article 140 (2) of the 2010 Constitution of Kenya states that “within fourteen days after the filing of a petition, the Supreme Court shall hear and determine the petition and its decision shall be final”.
Section 140 (1) of the Kenyan Constitution also provides that “a person may file a petition in the Supreme Court to challenge the election of the president-elect within seven days after the date of the declaration of the results of the presidential election”.
Kenya held its general elections on August 9, 2022. The election results were announced on August 15, 2022 and William Ruto was declared winner.
Raila Odinga had seven days from the day after the election results were declared, and he filed his petition on August 22, 2022.
As a result of the reform on the duration of election petitions in Ghana, election petition proceedings took about three months in 2020, an improvement from the eight months, which the election petition took in 2012.
According to Adedeji Adeyemi, a senior constitutional lawyer, it is not a bad idea that election petition cases are decided timely.
He, however, said that in the interest of fair hearing, an important principle of natural justice, parties should be given the opportunity to make their cases.
“It is in the interest of justice that parties are not hastened to make mistakes so that they do not come up to say that there was not enough time to prepare their cases,” Adeyemi said.
Olisa Agbakoba, a senior advocate of Nigeria, said there is an urgent need for judicial reforms in Nigeria to aid the speedy resolution of tribunal cases before elected officials take oath of office.
Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, said it was the only way to avoid logjam of cases in court and controversies, which often arise after the conclusion of an election in the country, especially presidential and gubernatorial polls. He said all election petition cases can be concluded within 14 days after the first hearing, just like it is done in some African countries.
He said: “We need to speed up the judiciary outcome of the election petition cases, in modern democracy you need speed to arrive at your conclusion.
“How can Nigeria that is 100 years old be like this, the NJC is not doing anything to correct them. Seven days each is enough for the cases to go through the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.”
Agbakoba stressed that the tribunal and court cases can be concluded before the swearing-in of elected officials, if the right judiciary reforms are done and there was the willingness to try, just like other countries.
“Petition can be resolved before swearing in, but we have to try to see if we can get it done, it would be a plus for everybody. I think the legal teams can push this if the cases can be resolved before swearing in,” he said.
The senior lawyer pointed out that the 2010 Muhammmed Uwais report had provided solutions to some of the challenges bedevilling the judiciary and electoral process in the country, noting that the incoming administration should look into the report and implement it.
Read also: Agbakoba recommends 7 days to resolve election petition matters
He said: “The NJC needs to do more, we need to modernize the justice delivery system in Nigeria; some cases last up to twelve, twenty years. The confidence in the judiciary among Nigerians is low. Look at Kenya, Ghana they did it, why can’t we do it?
“I am appealing to the people (NJC) to shake things up, the NJC can solve these things, it is affecting confidence in the judiciary.”
The 2023 presidential poll in Nigeria would go down as one of the most anticipated and keenly contested.
Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, was declared the winner of the presidential election held on February 25.
Mahmood Yakubu, chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced the results in the wee hours of March 1.
Tinubu secured 8,794,726 votes, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had 6,984,520, and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) polled 6,101,533.
Since then, mixed reactions have trailed the conduct of the presidential poll.
Opposition parties, particularly the PDP and LP, have expressed dissatisfaction with the electoral process, particularly INEC failure to transmit the election results electronically through the use of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System from the polling units immediately after the close of the poll on INEC Result Viewing portal as promised.
The parties demanded that the presidential election be conducted afresh, saying it was far from being fair or transparent.
Similarly, Atiku said that the election was marred by manipulations and should be cancelled.
The PDP and LP have filed petitions at the tribunal challenging Tinubu’s victory.
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