Because the Presidential Elections Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) delivers its 13-hour judgement on the fiercely contested and disputed 2023 normal elections in Nigeria, many Nigerian residents are thrown right into a state of despondency. Regardless of the Tribunal’s facts-based insistence on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s victory, the political environment stays uneasy. The choice of the opposition to attraction the judgement seems welcome, however doesn’t diffuse the strain. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu winner of the keenly contested elections amidst a number of allegations of corruption and highhandedness culminating in a extremely flawed electoral course of. This text evaluates sure fallouts from the judgement in relation to their total implications for the continued wellbeing of the Nigerian state. Moreover, it examines the notion of the Nigerian judiciary from the perspective of apparently controversial judgements and opinions residents’ various choices for resolving the political and judicial deadlock.
The 2023 Basic Elections in Nigeria have come and gone, with attendant controversies and disputations. As it’s common with nearly all elections in Nigeria, the INEC-designated losers approached the Presidential Elections Petitions Tribunal sitting on the Attraction Court docket in Abuja, in search of inter alia to disqualify President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s candidature with a view to reversing INEC’s declaration that he received the elections. Within the build-up to the elections, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Celebration (LP) Peter Obi had been tipped by a number of native and worldwide opinion polls to win the elections given his reputation amongst Nigerian youths who for the primary time within the historical past of elections within the Nation, had trooped out en masse to help their hero. Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) was additionally not overlooked within the permutations contemplating his pro-Democracy credentials in addition to his legendary mastery and utility of deft political technique to navigate the murky waters of Nigerian politics. Moreover, his heavy monetary conflict chest was thought of a vital issue within the elections, in view of Nigeria’s penchant for moneybag politics. By the way, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples’ Democratic Celebration (PDP) was initially thought of Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s best challenger for the Presidency given the stability of cash anticipated to happen if each males had been to deploy their monetary clouts to bear on the elections. Nevertheless, like Tinubu, Atiku carried the burden of a person accused of eager to usurp the flip of the South-East which was anticipated in lots of quarters to supply the president within the curiosity of social justice and nationwide cohesion. Sadly, Peter Obi’s “French depart” from the PDP and the next revival of the #EndSars-induced Third Pressure vis-a-vis the “Obidient Motion” signaled the opportunity of a possible upset within the political equation. To worsen issues, Atiku’s working battle with the PDP’s “G5” governors led by Nyesom Wike appeared to additional suffocate his possibilities on the elections. Moreover, Peter Obi’s rising reputation was projected to decrease Atiku’s votes significantly within the former PDP stronghold of the South-East, and even within the South-South geopolitical zone the place Nyesom Wike wielded appreciable affect. This was the state of the race because the elections approached. Therefore, it was due to this fact anticipated that the outcomes of the election can be ferociously disputed. Nevertheless, with the conclusion of the PEPT’s sitting and its subsequent judgement, fairly various seemingly complicated points have now sufficed:
The primary of those points is the obvious neo-perception of Abuja as a state of the Federation slightly than a Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Thus, with out prejudice to Part 299 of the Structure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 which states inter alia that, “The provisions of this structure shall apply to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja as if it had been one of many states of the Federation…,” it seems to not sit properly with quite a lot of Nigerians that Abuja ought to now be conceived in lots of quarters because the “37th state of the Federation” by advantage of a Tribunal judgement which appeared to make a brand new legislation slightly than interpret an previous one, and no matter the official place of the Structure on the creation of a Federal Capital Territory for the Nation. The Constitutional place concerning the distinct nature of the FCT is clearly portrayed in Part 2 (2) of the Nigerian Structure 1999 that, “Nigeria shall be a Federation consisting of States and a Federal Capital Territory.”
However, if the framers of the Nigerian Structure had wished Abuja to be a state, it could have been lucidly acknowledged within the method as in Part 3 (1) which outlined the 36 states of the Federation excluding Abuja. Given these Constitutional controversies, it may even be stated that the applying of Constitutional provisions to the administration of the FCT as supplied for in Part 299 is both incomplete or in breach as a result of if the FCT is to be handled as if it had been a state, then, it ought to have been afforded all of the paraphernalia of a state together with an elected governor, commissioners for numerous aspects of presidency and far more. Fairly, what obtains on the FCT is a minister who’s appointed by the President and given the mandate to run the FCT as if he was a sole administrator below a democracy. Moreover, the FCT has no Home of Meeting as is obtainable within the states therefore, below the provisions of Part 303, the political and administrative constructions of the entity and people of her space councils “shall be as supplied by an Act of the Nationwide Meeting” but, the FCT isn’t thought of as having any particular standing. If the FCT is handled otherwise each when it comes to political and administrative preparations versus the states, what then is the definition of a “particular standing”?
Moreover, a comparative examine concerning the appointment of judicial officers for the states and the FCT nonetheless doesn’t help the notion of Constitutional similarity between the FCT and the states. For example, whereas Part 271 (1) supplies for the appointment of chief jugdes of the states’ excessive courts by the governors of the states on the advice of the Nationwide Judicial Council and topic to affirmation by the states’ Homes of Meeting, the appointment of the Chief Decide of the FCT Excessive Court docket below Part 256 isn’t made by the FCT Minister, however by the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on the advice of the Nationwide Judicial Council, topic to affirmation by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As if that’s not sufficient, Part 304 supplies for the institution of a “judicial service committee” for the FCT. But, the FCT has no particular standing.
Drawing from the foregoing, it’s evident that the political and administrative standing of the FCT is actually completely different from these of the states albeit that the PEPT’s judgement seems to compel us to imagine in any other case. Sadly, the authorized compatibility of the judgement with the Nigerian Structure (or in any other case) is past the purview of this creator to determine.
Our subsequent concern concerning the judgement is within the total implications of some pronouncements made therein to the worldwide notion index of the Nigerian state and her authorities particularly within the space of institutional integrity. Given the petitions, one of many PEPT’s key duties was to find out whether or not INEC’s failure to fulfil the reassurance it gave to Nigerians that it could transmit the outcomes of the presidential elections to its Outcomes Viewing Portal (IREV) in actual time amounted to a breach of INEC’s personal electoral tips, culminating in a extremely flawed electoral course of as being alleged by the opposition. To this finish, the PEPT declared that INEC was impartial and due to this fact, that her modus operandi for conducting elections and transmitting outcomes was discretionary. Therefore, if INEC gave sure assurances to Nigerians to spice up their confidence within the electoral course of, it was not obligated to stay as much as them. In different phrases, the Nigerian authorities (by means of any of her businesses together with INEC) isn’t obligation sure to respect any pact it enters into with the Nigerian folks. That is in flagrant insensitivity to the plight of the widespread Nigerian to whom an assurance was given, and whose confidence within the electoral course of was seen to have momentarily improved by advantage of that very same assurance. Therefore, in making that pronouncement, the PEPT appears to have downplayed the truth that constructing robust establishments begins with constructing institutional integrity, and constructing institutional integrity begins with gestures as little as authorities officers making public guarantees and preserving them. Therefore, by absolving INEC of any mistaken doing concerning the matter of constructing a public promise and never preserving it, the PEPT seems to have strengthened the worldwide pejorative notion of Nigerians as a individuals who lack integrity both as public or personal residents. That is as harmful to the Nigerian economic system as it’s to the credibility of the Nation’s electoral system to the typical Nigerian.
Traditionally, the credibility of the Nation’s electoral system has by no means been encouraging. The place such credibility has not been diminished by widespread electoral infractions characterised by voter intimidation killing or maiming, poll field snatching and normal rigging, it has been diminished by seemingly controversial court docket or tribunal rulings on electoral petitions. One in every of such rulings is the Supreme Court docket’s declaration of Senator (Chief) Hope Uzodimma because the winner of the 9 March, 2019 governorship elections in Imo State the place a seven-member panel led by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun unanimously insisted that the outcomes of 388 polling items had been unlawfully excluded throughout collation. Following Frederick Oho’s dissenting judgement on the Court docket of Attraction on 19 November, 2019, Hope Uzodimma had approached the Supreme Court docket for a last declaration on the matter. Consequently, the panel concluded that when the outcomes from the excluded polling items had been taken under consideration, Hope Uzodimma must have been declared the winner of the elections having garnered majority of the votes in these polling items. This ruling sparked a flurry of controversies. With the good thing about hindsight, fairly various causes could possibly be adduced for these controversies. The primary motive is captured in Halimah Yahaya’s report within the Premium Occasions of 14 January 2020 wherein she asserts that:
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“The decide didn’t present the small print of the brand new votes scored by every of the candidates after the addition of the outcomes from the 388 polling items.”
By the way, Simon Kolawole’s article “The Supreme Court docket Verdict on Imo” printed in The Cable of 26 January, 2020 seems to offer the explanation for Halimah Yahaya’s submission:
“The primary subject raised by commentators is that the Supreme Court docket declared a person who positioned fourth because the winner. The figures launched by the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC) after the March 8 (sic), 2019 election had seen Ihedioha (PDP) declared winner with 273,404 votes, adopted by Uche Nwosu (Motion Alliance) who polled 190,364, Ifeanyi Ararume (All Progressives Grand Alliance) 114,676 and Uzodimma (APC) 96,458. The second subject is that with 213,695 votes now attributed to Uzodimma, whole variety of votes solid got here to 927,000 whereas accredited voters had been solely 823,743, which might recommend that there have been extra votes than voters.”
Kolawole additional argues that:
“Arising from this was a 3rd subject raised by these against the judgement: assuming certainly that Uzodinma’s votes within the 388 polling items that had been excluded from collation had been authentic, how on earth may one candidate have scored all of the votes in these items? This argument presumes that the 213,695 votes that the Supreme Court docket ordered ought to be added to Uzodimma’s tally from the disputed 388 polling items represented the whole votes solid in these items. If certainly this was the case, we will solely assume that any person sat down someplace and performed video games on the calculator and doubtless on Microsoft Workplace Excel. Some major college child, perhaps.”
Moreover, within the article titled “Controversial Supreme Court docket Judgements Redirect Public Consideration to its Picture” printed in The Guardian of 25 February, 2020, Joseph Onyekwere recounts a sequence of controversy-eliciting jugdements on electoral issues. He cites the instance of the Peoples’ Democratic Celebration (PDP) and a pair of Others V Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo and three Others the place the court docket ordered INEC to withdraw the Certificates of Return earlier issued to Mr Pereworimin Lyon and his deputy who had been simply hours away to being sworn in as Governor and Deputy Governor of their state. Added to this was the controversy in Osun State bordering on the facility of INEC officers to cancel election outcomes which “was unsuccessful in technical floor of the absence of one of many judges within the panel” and the case in Kogi State the place Mr James Faleke, the working mate to late Abubakar Audu, was disallowed by the Supreme Court docket to turn out to be the APC’s flag bearer by motive of a joint ticket with the deceased.
All of the aforementioned are indicative of a tradition of controversy in election petition adjudications which have to be obliterated from Nigeria’s politico-judicial scene so as to improve voter confidence and participation within the electoral course of. Moreover, the usage of “technicalities” to justify seemingly illogical election-related judgements is perceived as a grievous obstacle to justice and ought to be discarded by all means. Because the Supreme Court docket of Nigeria has identified in Akeredolu V Abraham (2018), “technicality within the administration of justice shuts out justice.”
Given the foregoing, the centrality of the welfare of the typical Nigerian in all of those is of main concern. Equally, the sample of presidency he’s traditionally constrained to stay and work below can be essential. On this regard, the query as as to if Democracy (particularly the Nigerian variant) has served and promoted the welfare of the typical Nigerian turns into pertinent. Therefore, the peoples’ response to the PEPT’s judgement and its allied issues ought to represent a key issue within the political course of within the interval previous the ultimate declaration by the Supreme Court docket and past.
The primary choice on the a part of the petitioners is to attraction the judgement earlier than the Supreme Court docket of Nigeria whereas their anxious followers patiently await a beneficial consequence. By the way, accessible info means that the presidential candidates of the PDP and LP have already selected this selection. Nevertheless, the essential concern on this regard is whether or not these petitioners are ready to abdomen a Supreme Court docket judgement that’s just like that of the PEPT making an allowance for the state of affairs wherein they’ve been advised dismissively to “go to court docket” as if these urging them to take action had been already conscious of what the result on the court docket can be. Secondly, there seems to be fears in some quarters that with the heightened rigidity within the Nation, if the judgement on the Supreme Court docket isn’t seen to be radically completely different from that of the Tribunal, the advocacy for “revolution” vis-à-vis the #EndSars motion may acquire contemporary momentum in affirmation of Emma Goldman’s insinuation that, “progress is rarely throughout the legislation.” Nevertheless, whether or not such momentum can be sustained within the presence of a carton of noodles or a bag of rice stays to be seen. Equally, the occasions that occurred on the Lekki toll gate on 20 October, 2020 and the next evanescence of the #EndSars protests spotlight the necessity for residents’ resilience within the demand for governmental accountability or the group for social change. In any other case, the scenario wouldn’t be completely different from that of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce who regardless of professing to confront the US authorities concerning its resolution to open up Oregon for mining actions within the nineteenth Century, ended up surrendering to the troops of Basic Oliver Howard and making that well-known declaration in his historic give up speech of 1877 that “I’ll combat no extra perpetually!”
Moreover, the choice a religion-induced fatalistic resignation which strengthens residents’ perception within the phantasm that God would come down from heaven to restore their political and socio-economic programs can be potential. On this case, it’s crucial for the residents to notice that whereas thesame God had imbued them with all it takes to develop their political economic system preparatory to residing a greater life, retreating to the cocoon of political apathy and anticipating a miraculous transformation of the political and socio-economic programs can be counterproductive. Moreover, the “japa” choice of residents’ emigration to international lands looking for the so-called “greener pastures” is laughable, given the inaccurate assumption of celestial perfection in these societies. Even when that was the case, it’s instructive to notice that those that constructed the nations at the moment purporting to supply guarantees of a greater life to Nigerians had been additionally people. Within the last evaluation, residents’ involvement in each inch of the political course of is paramount, and may replicate the Gaullean notion that “politics is just too critical a matter to be left to the politicians.”
The sample of research is predicated on the Liberal Democratic technique.
The ‘Various Viewpoint,’ penned by Flight Lieutenant Christopher Uchenna Obasi (Retired), is a classy weekly column that delves into the complicated dimensions of socio-political points. Whereas it concentrates totally on the African context, the column additionally casts a wider analytical internet to embody international affairs. By means of incisive commentary and in-depth evaluation, it goals to supply various views that problem mainstream narratives and provoke considerate discourse on vital issues.