Newz…Courts increasingly determining election outcomes By Chinedu Adonu ENUGU — Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Chief Afam Osigwe, SAN, has said Nigeria is among the countries with the highest number of election petitions, attributing the development to the increasing involvement of the courts in determining electoral outcomes. Osigwe stated this while speaking at the 22nd Nigeria Guild of Editors Conference held at the International Conference Centre, ICC, Enugu. Speaking on “Election Petition in the Digital Age: Independence, Evidence, BVAS,” he expressed concern over the growing role of the judiciary in determining who represents Nigerians after elections.
According to him, the difficulty of proving alleged electoral malpractice and non-compliance with electoral laws has increasingly pushed disputes arising from elections before the courts. He said: “I see that Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest number of election petitions, and all because the courts are very frequently involved in determining either the outcome or who won. “And all too often, the courts are merely called in to give direction on issues of procedure.” Osigwe said a judge had previously described the development as “the judicialization of the electoral process,” arguing that the courts had gradually assumed a role that should principally belong to voters.
He said the manner in which elections were conducted, coupled with the difficulty of establishing electoral violations within the limited period allowed for election petitions, had contributed to the growing dependence on litigation. The former NBA president also questioned the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, saying the process of appointing members of the commission could affect public confidence in its autonomy. He linked declining voter participation partly to the perception among citizens that their votes might not ultimately determine electoral outcomes.
Osigwe also raised concerns about violence, voter suppression, inducement of voters and the recruitment of youths for electoral violence, saying such practices could further undermine confidence in the electoral process. On the deployment of technology in elections, he recalled the introduction of smart card readers in 2015, followed by the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, and the INEC Result Viewing Port… ENUGU — Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, has raised concerns over the increasing role of the courts in determining electoral outcomes in Nigeria, warning that the judiciary should not gradually replace voters in deciding who represents the people.
Osigwe spoke on Thursday while delivering a presentation titled “Election Petitions in the Digital Age: Independence, Evidence, BVAS and the Courts” at the 22nd Annual All Nigeria Editors Conference in Enugu. The session formed part of the conference’s programme on electoral integrity and democratic governance. He said the manner in which election petitions are handled, particularly the difficulty of proving electoral non-compliance, had contributed to what he described as the increasing “judicialisation” of Nigeria’s electoral process.
According to him, the situation has created a system where courts are frequently called upon to determine who won elections instead of merely resolving legal disputes arising from the electoral process. Osigwe said a judge and friend of his had previously described the development as “the judicialization of the electoral process”, arguing that the difficulty of proving electoral wrongdoing had increasingly placed the courts in the position of determining representatives of the people. “I couldn’t have agreed with him more,” Osigwe said.
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