Is the election petition tribunal taking over the role of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in 2027? That’s what I hear people say! It would seem that Nigeria is on a bumpy road to 2027 as the roles of the INEC, and all the security agencies have come into question. Transparency must be the watchword.
Election petition tribunal as umpire
When last Monday, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, inaugurated 375 election petition tribunal judges in Abuja, ahead of the 2027 general election, many Nigerians sneered.
Many citizens immediately wrote them off, branding them as compromised judges even when the cynics do not know the judges’ career trajectory.
This is what happens in a nation where trust in national institutions has completely been eroded following years of repeated disappointments.
During the inauguration, Kekere-Ekun had warned the judges against political interference, intimidation, and actions capable of undermining judicial independence.
She was said to have read the riot act to the tribunal judges, warning against turning the courts into political battlegrounds through intimidation, misinformation, conflicting orders and abuse of judicial processes.
By the same token, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, charged the judges to avoid technicalities that defeat substantive justice and allow the truth of the ballot to prevail. He urged them to demonstrate deep fidelity to the law and uncompromising integrity, and to ensure justice is done and seen to be done, noting that they carry the democratic aspirations of over 200 million Nigerians.
But for many observers, those were familiar refrains that hardly made any meaning to the electoral process in time past.
For some Nigerians, the inauguration of the judges two months before the election is akin to laying a landmine before the exercise.
The tribunal arose out of the contemplation that there would be those who would cry foul, whose mandates may be snatched from them, and they would be told to ‘go to court”.
For many Nigerians, going to court in election matters may be just a waste of one’s precious time.
The thinking by many observers is that if the electoral system were credible; if those behind it were integrity-personified, and if the environment had been well sanitised by the powers that be, there would be less concern about the possibility of election manipulation.
People seek judicial redress because they have every reason to believe they were robbed at collation centres after the voters had voted for them at polling centres.
Some cynics believe that relevant authorities should ensure transparency in the electoral system rather than waste people’s time with tribunals and the likes, which is akin to crying when the head is off.
Getting the process right and ensuring transparency of elections would check the suspicion that there was a hanky-panky somewhere, which engenders the desire to approach election tribunals.
While we are here shuffling our feet inaugurating tribunals, the recent Midterm elections in America had been done and dusted without judicial razzmatazz.
The reason is simple. The system is so transparent that those who lost knew they lost and why they lost. There were no shenanigans! But here in Nigeria, white can turn black in a jiffy after voters must have exercised their franchise.
The fear that frauds will still trump honesty, integrity, or truthfulness even after the case goes to the tribunal is what may have eroded citizens’ faith in the system.
The erosion of trust in the judiciary has run so deep and wide that many citizens now care less about what goes on in that space.
The legal foundation for the Election Tribunal in Nigeria is primarily rooted in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. For instance, Section 239 of the Nigerian Constitution provides for the establishment of election tribunals to hear and determine petitions challenging the results of elections to various offices, including the offices of the President, Governors, National Assembly members, and States Houses of Assembly members.
Moreover, Section 285 outlines the time limits within which election petitions must be filed and the time frame within which the tribunals must deliver judgments.
Similarly, the Electoral Acts provide the statutory framework for conducting elections and addressing electoral disputes. These acts, along with other relevant laws, further detail the processes, procedures, and powers of the election tribunal.
According to reports, there have been 5249 petitions filed in the six general elections held in Nigeria since 2003, with 560 petitions in 2003, 1290 petitions in 2007, 732 petitions in 2011, 611 petitions in 2015, 766 petitions in 2019, and 1,290 in 2023.
Nigeria’s journey towards democratic rule since 1999 has been marked by electoral disputes. However, to ensure a transparent and just electoral process, the constitution mandates the establishment of independent election tribunals empowered to hear and resolve complaints and petitions related to elections.
Interestingly, Section 285 of the Nigerian constitution and Section 130 of the Electoral Act specify that the Election Petition Tribunal must be constituted, at least, 30 days before the election and open its registry for business seven days before the election.
There is no doubt that election tribunals in Nigeria have played a critical role in resolving electoral disputes and upholding the integrity of the democratic process, but over the years, the integrity of the tribunals have come under scrutiny.
That was the reason for the loud whispering across the country after the inauguration of the armada of 2027 election petition tribunal last Monday, that the learned men and women on the tribunal had been tapped to play the hatchet man’s role. The onus is on the judges to prove the cynics wrong by allowing integrity to be their watchword.
The INEC helmsman must be seen to be transparent in its handling of the elections. It must not offload its responsibility on the tribunal in the arrogant manner of his predecessor who offhandedly told hurting contestants to “go to court.”
The penchant to leave the final decision of the election results to the whims and caprices of tribunals after all the efforts and resources put into the organisation of a general election rankles so much.
INEC, Police, DSS and bumpy road to 2027
While the INEC is doing its best assuring all Nigerians of a free, fair and credible 2027 general election, lots of questions have remained unanswered.
The INEC Chairman had, during the inauguration of the election tribunal judges last Monday, told them that they carried the democratic aspirations of over 200 million Nigerians. This utterance presupposes that the umpire may have abdicated his responsibility to the tribunal.
The INEC is also struggling with the integrity of the voter register, which it acknowledged has been compromised by about 54 members of its staff. Up till now, there has been no comment on what has happened to those staff.
Nigeria has come to a point where political parties are now telling voters to protect their votes by staying back at the polling units until the votes are counted. This is an aberration in a country that trumpets to have digitized the electoral process.
The INEC has been given a humungous amount of money to make the election credible.
Nigerians must not depend on polling agents to protect the result of their parties. The failure of INEC has made it possible for the opposition to decide to watch the umpire closely.
Nigerians are still not confident about a transparent general election with all the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS), INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and the retinue of security agents at polling units.
The quietness from the security agencies in the midst of attacks on parties’ rallies and the associated chaos going on across the country is not giving any hope to cheer.
The Nigeria Police and the Department of State Services (DSS) have the role to provide security for those who carry out their campaigns without molestation.
From all indications and the events in the political space, it is fitting to say that it is a bumpy road to 2027.
Related News
Source: