An Evaluation Of Judiciary Decision On Election Cases And Its Implication On Governance

An Evaluation Of Judiciary Decision On Election Cases And Its Implication On Governance

Chapter One

Preface

Background of the study

The bar, among these organs, is an necessary organ that balances the exercise of powers in the polity of any nation. The general responsibility of the court in the adjudication of an election is to hear and determine the winner and, accordingly, the clunker whenever a solicitation comes up for trial.

still, in the Fourth Republic, just as in the other mercenary interruptions before it, there was hardly any state in Nigeria where one election or the other wasn’t annulled and bye- choices were held. Since the 1999 choices, courts at colorful situations have throughout the country voided the palms of a couple of governors, scores of legislators( including a sitting Senate President) and multitudinous civil and state lawmakers, as well as original government moderators and councilors.

Election controversies are largely sensitive and controversial, so much so that the process of disposing of them seems as if the bar itself is on trial. Indeed, according to Okoye( 2009), the debate on the part and place of the bar in electoral controversies revolves around the question of whether” they should give voice to the choices of the people without bowing and being slavish to the oddities of the law and the constitution.” It is, on the other hand, whether the bar is duly deposited to substitute its own will and opinions for those of the Nigerian people without being indicted of judicial despotism.

Nigeria has a character for” muddled choices,”” felonious politics,” and” garrison republic.” Since the popular transition in 1999, all the choices held in the country – in 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 – have been accompanied by reports of wide electoral fraud. After the 1999 choices, for case, the Transition Monitoring Group( TMG) – a coalition of original civil society groups – reported that ‘ the trend of awarding high votes, or votes in excess of the number of accredited choosers, which had been observed during the National Assembly choices, assumed much lesser proportions during the Presidential choices ’( TMG 1999).

After the 2003 choices, the European Union Election Observation Mission( EUEOM) reported that, in a number of countries, the conduct of the choices didn’t misbehave with Nigerian law and transnational norms. Several parties, substantially established bones , were linked as being involved in malpractice'( EUEOM 2003). The outgrowth of the 2007 general choices was considered more fraudulent than the former bones and, indeed, the worst in the contemporary electoral history of Nigeria. These and numerous cases, both at state and original position, have led to the questioning of the integrity of the bar in upholding popular principles rather than allowing themselves to be used to oppose the voice of the people.

Statement of the problem

The Nigerian bar has frequently come under severe review for its running or mishandling of election solicitation cases. In particular, judges have been indicted of deliberate belatedness leading to gratuitous detainments, conspiracy to frustrate petitioners, corruption( including allegedly dealing judgments to the loftiest endeavor), overdue politicization of the cases and a downright travesty of justice,etc.

previous to this time, electoral fraud was characterized bypre-election apparel, polling- day apparel andpost-election apparel styles as forms and stages of electoral fraud in the country, appearing to be outstanding. Other common forms of electoral fraud include multiple and false enrollment , vote- buying, underage voting, multiple voting, namer intimidation, ballot robbery and swiping, false protestation of winners and others, at different stages of the electoral process ahead, during and after choices. These popular forms of electoral fraud have been adding claims in several circles, especially among the political nobility and public judges, that there’s indeed a new and sophisticated dimension to electoral fraud in Nigeria. This is the manipulation of the judicial process to produce false winners. These claims are also related to the recent internal wrangling in the scale of the Nigerian bar over claims and allegations of fraudulent court rulings in disputed choices.

Hence, a substantial number of Nigerians have questioned the part of the bar as a true arbitrator in electoral matters. There are numerous risks and difficulties associated with election desires particularly the part of judges which, collectively and inclusively, have made it such an agonizing, frustrating and frequently fruitless exercise for both pleaders and the popular enterprise. The election solicitation, ironically, seeks to open a window of justice for the former while upholding and strengthening thelatter.Thus, it’s against this background that this study seeks to present an assessment of the present bar system of Nigeria in deciding election cases an it recrimination on governance.

Ideal Of The Study

The primary thing of this exploration is to ameliorate the evaluation of Nigeria’s current judicial system’sdecisions.Specifically, the study seeks to

1. To probe the nature of post election solicitation.

2. To probe the part of the bar in disagreement resolution in Nigeria’s incipient republic.

3. To present cases of bar adjudication of election cases in the fourth democracy and its recrimination on governance.

Exploration Questions

The exploration is guided by the following questions.

1. What’s the nature of Nigeria’s electoral solicitation?

2. What part does the bar play in resolving controversies in Nigeria’s New Nascent Democracy?

3. Are there cases of bar adjudication of election cases and mishandling of election cases in Nigeria’s fourth democracy?

4. What’s the recrimination of bar mishandling of election cases on governance

Significance of the study

Since this study presented an assessment of the present bar system of Nigeria in deciding election cases, it’s thus vital to note that the findings and theoretical aspects of this work will be applicable to the bar arm of the government, political players and the electoral body. For the bar, the study will enlighten them on the need to endeavour to isolate themselves and repel all attempts to drag their labor force into the murky waters of prejudiced politics, but still maintain their independence, honesty and integrity. The study will emphasize the significance of believable choices free of fraud and malpractice for electoralbodies.The study will enlighten politicians and actors about the significance of nurturing, imbibing, and flaunting the correct popular values, particularly civility, fair play, and goodsportsmanship.The findings from the study will also be significantly useful to scholars and experimenters and other individualities who may have an interest in gathering or conducting farther exploration related to the content under study.

Compass Of The Study

The compass of this study borders on an assessment of the present bar system of Nigeria in deciding election cases. The exploration, still, is limited to choices in the Fourth Republic and the Imo State election in 2020.

Limitations of the study

During the course of this exploration, the following factors are proposed to be a limitation.

fiscal constraints fiscal constraints tend to stymie the experimenter’s effectiveness in locating applicable accoutrements , literature, or information, as well as in data collection( internet, questionnaire, and interview).

Time constraint – The experimenter will contemporaneously engage in this study with other academic work. As a result, the quantum of time spent on exploration is reduced.

Exploration Methodology

exploration methodology is the specific procedures or ways used to identify, elect, process, and dissect information about a content. For the purpose of this study, the experimenters espoused literal and descriptive styles. Information was sourced from secondary data collated from journals, papers, library accoutrements and internet sources which are related to the study.

Description Of Terms

Election An election is a formal group decision- making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individualities to hold public office.

Election solicitation election solicitation refers to the procedure for challenging the result of an formerly held election

Judiciary Judiciary is the branch of government whose task is the authoritative adjudication of difficulties over the operation of laws in specific situations.