Nigeria Senate On Thursday Pass Amendment to Electoral Act Wey Go Help Stop One Bad Habit Wey Don Dey Worry Nigeria Election Court Matter For Long, Na The Habit Wey People Dey Carry The Same Case Go Different Courts For Different States, Just To Find Judge Wey Go Favour Them.
Dis move wey dem make come be say na the same thing wey House of Reps dem do, dem pass their own version last wednesday.
The trick wey dem dey target na when party or candidate go carry one same pre-election case scatter am for different courts across states at the same time maybe Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and elsewhere because dem believe say if one judge no gree with dem, another one fit give dem judgment wey favour their side. Na so dem dey shop around for court wey go likely support their interest.
This kind plenty court judgments don create serious confusion for past elections. Many of the cases dey continue for court even after winners don already emerge, while some courts of equal power go give completely different rulings on the same issue. The confusion dey make am hard for courts and electoral bodies to know which judgment or order dem suppose follow.
Inside this new arrangement, any matter wey concern party primaries for governorship or National Assembly seats go first start from Federal High Court, and na Court of Appeal go get final say on the matter. After that judgment, nobody fit carry the case go any higher court again.
Any pre-election case wey involve presidential election go first go Court of Appeal, and if anybody wan challenge the judgment, na only Supreme Court fit hear the appeal and make final decision.
Dem design this new system to make election matter easy to follow and settle quick. Each kind of case now go get one clear court wey suppose handle am from start to finish, so matter no go dey scatter for different courts again.
The idea na to stop confusion and delay wey don happen before, where person wey lose case go still carry am enter another court, hoping say different judge go give different decision. With this new setup, once court give final judgment for that case, na im be the end no more moving the matter around.
As the 2027 General Election dey draw nearer and political activities don already start to increase,na the correct time for this amendment.
Both Senate and House of Reps look like dem serious to make sure say this new rules don already dey work before the next round of party primaries start.
