By Femi Falana
Election petitions have adverse effects on all superior courts of record in Nigeria. It has been confirmed that no fewer than 257 judges have been deployed for election petitions across the country. The judges are going to be preoccupied with election petitions for 180 days or 6 months. Very soon, more judges will be appointed as tribunal members after the governorship elections in Bayelsa, Kogi, and Imo States. The implication is that the other cases being handled by the affected judges will be adjourned until the next legal year.
The Federal High Court was saddled with the responsibility of attending to pre-election matters to the detriment of other cases including criminal ones and fundamental right applications since pre-election cases are time barred. I was made to understand that about 1,800 pre-election cases were filed in the registries of the various judicial divisions of the Federal High Court.
Meanwhile, the Court of Appeal has just concluded about 600 appeals arising from pre-election cases in the Federal High Court. Apart from the several presidential election petitions pending in the Court of Appeal, very soon, appeals from the Election Petition Tribunals in the 36 States will congest the docket of the Court of Appeal.
Of course, the Supreme Court, has concluded over 120 appeals pertaining to pre-election matters. The apex court will soon commence hearing appeals from the Court in respect of the various presidential election petitions and governorship election petitions in all the 36 States of the Federation. The pressure is going to weigh heavily on the apex court because it has only 12 Justices. Again, all other civil and criminal appeals will have to give way to election related appeals.
The Court of Appeal is currently constituted by 77 Justices instead of 90 Justices. From the information at my disposal, not less than 3 Justices of the Court of Appeal are going to retire during the current legal year. In order to address the shortage of Justices in the Court, the bill to increase the number of the Justices from 90 to 110 ought to be speedily passed by both chambers of the National Assembly. In view of the fact that the election related appeals are also time bound, the National Judicial Council should ensure that the vacancies in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal are urgently filled in the interest of the nation’s justice sector. All stakeholders hold it a duty to ensure that enough Justices are appointed to man the appellate courts.
However, it is high time the Nigerian Bar Association led the struggle for credible elections in the country. I mean credible local government elections, pre-election and general elections. If fair and free elections are conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission and state independent electoral commissions, the number of election petitions will be substantially reduce. The NBA should also campaign for the prosecution of electoral offenders including party leaders who impose candidates in breach of the Electoral Act. The full weight of the law should be made to descend on the few anti democratic forces that subject our country to ridicule, from time to time.
