INEC: Court processes affecting preparation for 2023 polls

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has said the court processes served on the commission by political parties were affecting its preparation for the 2023 general election.

Yakubu said cases arising from the conduct of primaries for the nomination of candidates by political parties have increased, noting that INEC has been joined in about 600 cases relating to the conduct of recent primaries and nomination of candidates by political parties for the next year’s general election.

He said this while speaking at the inauguration of the Electoral Logistics Committee (ELOC) held at INEC headquarters in Abuja on Monday.

The INEC chairman further stated that there was a sharp reduction in the number of cases arising from the 2019 general election and a reduced number of elections nullified by the Election Petition Tribunals.

Yakubu disclosed that 30 elections were upturned by the Tribunals in 2019 as against over 100 in a previous election, adding that in 23 out of 30 constituencies, the elections were only set aside in some polling units and not the general nullification of elections in the entire constituencies.

The INEC boss said: “We have studied the judgements of the Tribunals arising from both the 2019 general election, the off-cycle governorship elections and the bye-elections conducted so far. We identified areas where we need to do more to reduce litigations. As a result, we are witnessing increasingly less court cases challenging the conduct of elections by the commission.

“However, cases arising from the conduct of primaries for the nomination of candidates by political parties are on the increase. So far, we have been joined in about 600 cases relating to the conduct of recent primaries and nomination of candidates by political parties for the 2023 general election.

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“Only two weeks ago, one political party served about 70 court processes on the Commission in one day seeking to compel us to accept the nomination or substitution of its candidates long after the deadline provided in the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the 2023 general election had elapsed. Some of the cases will go up to the Supreme Court. The implication is that we are still dealing with issues of nomination of candidates thereby eating into vital time for preparation of and procurement of sensitive materials. It also means that the courts will be dealing with the same issues long after the general election.”

Yakubu, who assured the judiciary that INEC will continue to abide by court orders, said strict adherence to stare decisis was critical for the commission as an election management body.

“A situation where a trial court sought to vary the judgement of the Supreme Court by ordering the commission to issue a Certificate of Return in favour of a candidate whose emergence during the party’s primary election has been nullified by the apex court (and affirmed by the same court following an application for clarification) put the commission in a difficult situation.

“The matter is currently being litigated again, possibly all the way back to the Supreme Court, thereby wasting the precious time of the courts which are already inundated by even the most improbable cases by litigation-happy individuals and parties,” he added.

The INEC chairman, who expressed his appreciation to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, and other heads of courts for the sustained collaboration with the commission, said the work (the judiciary and INEC) requires absolute neutrality, stressing that “We will not disappoint Nigerians”.

The Star