Very senior lawyers Femi Falana, SAN, and J. S. Okutepa, SAN, have concurred with another learned silk, Chief Robert Clarke, SAN, that election petitions be handled by retired Judges though it has to be done having recourse to the Constitution of Nigeria.
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This call is intended to enable judges to have enough time to prepare their cases and to handle them properly.
To the Learned Silks, for this to be achieved, there is need for the amendment of the Nigerian Constitution.
According to Falana, SAN, over 350 Judges of the State High Courts, Federal High Court and National Industrial Court handling election petitions have adjourned all matters pending in their court’s sine die.
Their Lordships and Ladyships are said to have left their jurisdictions for national assignment.
“Apart from appeals arising from pre-election cases and election petitions, both the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court are adjourning all pending appeals till 2020 and 2021. The vacation of the Justices of the Court of Appeal has been cancelled to enable them to handle election-related appeals.
“Since all litigants are equal before the law, it is high time the preference given to election petitions and appeals by Nigerian courts be reviewed. In some neighbouring African countries, election petitions are not handled by regular courts but by constitutional courts.
“It is therefore suggested that the Constitution be amended to allow retired judges to handle election petitions and appeals arising from them. In some neighbouring African countries election petitions are not handled by regular courts but by constitution courts,” he stated.
J. S. Okutepa, SAN in his statement said that justice to ordinary Nigerians in our courts have become difficult to get now. This is not on account that we have no courts. No, there are courts. But there are no judges to adjudicate on regular commercial, labour, criminal and other very important legal disputes.
“These judges at all our judicial levels have been choked in political adjudication all over Nigeria. Currently, the only business left for judicial officers to do is political cases. Now judges sit in three on election petitions. These judges are taken from their normal judicial functions and posted far from their normal jurisdictions.
“They are overwhelmed and overworked with electoral dispute resolutions. The other day I read that there will be no vacation for justices of the Court of Appeal because of election petition appeals. The same may apply to Supreme Court. With the overwhelming and overworking judicial dockets, these judicial officers are bound to break down.
“They are human beings. As a people, we need to balance our priorities. While it is good to subject political rascalities to judicial adjudication, there is an urgent need to make our courts available for normal judicial adjudication for which the judiciary was established by section 6 of our constitution.
“Time has come when the legal profession, which is made up of the Bar and the Bench must come together to find solutions of giving justice to all Nigerians and not justice to only political class. I do not, for instance, see why three judges must sit on election petitions Tribunal.
“I believe one incorruptible judicial officer can do. Or as my learned friend of the Inner Bar, Femi Falana, SAN suggested, why can’t we amend our laws and use retired judicial officers, and or better still some legal Practitioners of impeccable character and integrity to hear election petition cases and leave our judicial officers to do their normal cases.
“It is high time parliament look into this issue and amend our laws to pave ways for other Nigerians to get quick justice from our courts,” he said.
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