COURT ORDERS: INEC Assures Judiciary of Compliance
Oru Leonard
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has reassured the judiciary that the Commission will continue to comply to Court orders.
He stressed that strict adherence to stare decisis [stand by things decided] is critical for the Commission as an Election Management Body.
Prof. Yakubu who made this known Monday November 7, 2022 in Abuja, at a capacity building workshop for Justices and Judges on Election Matters, said the Commission has 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, and identified areas where it need to do more to reduce litigations.
He noted that while INEC is witnessing increasingly less Court cases challenging the conduct of elections by the Commission, however, that cases arising from the conduct of primaries for the nomination of candidates by political parties is 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. 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 for the election. It also means that the Courts will be dealing with the same issues long after the General Election”, he disclosed.
The INEC Chairman also said that 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 stated.
While noting that the job of the politician is intensely partisan, the INEC Chairman stated that the work of the judiciary and INEC requires absolute neutrality and “We will not disappoint Nigerians”.
