Skip to main content

Election petitions should be handled by retired Judges – Femi Falana

Femi Falana in a communique sent out on Thursday, advocated for election petitions to be handled by retired Judges as serving judges have been overburdened, leaving all matters pending in their courts to carry out national assignments.


The human rights activists pointed out the adjournment of court cases by over 350 Judges of the State High Courts, Federal High Court, and National Industrial Court, for a 'national assignment' which was never within their jurisdiction.


Femi Falana pushed for a review of preference given to election petitions and appeals, and further stated that such cases are not handled by regular courts in neighbouring countries but by constitutional courts.


The statement reads “Over 350 Judges drawn from State High Courts, Federal High Court, and National Industrial Court and handling election petitions have adjourned all matters pending in their courts’ sine die. Their Lordships and Ladyships are said to have left their jurisdictions for “national assignment” in other parts of the country.

“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 was 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. If our retired judges can handle arbitral matters and participate in judicial commissions of enquiry they should be saddled with the responsibility to handle election petitions and appeals arising from them.

“The injustice meted out to litigants whose cases are not political by the legal system should stop forthwith in the interest of justice”.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hurricane Hits Texas, One Person Reported Dead

Hurricane Harvey hit Texas as a Category 4 storm on Friday, battering the coast with 130-mph winds and torrential rain. It was the strongest hurricane to hit the United States in more than a decade leaving a massive destruction, loss of electricity, wrecked buildings and has so far killed at least one person. Scroll down to see more pictures of the incident:
Post a Comment
Read more

Kenyan Law Court dismisses case of man seeking compensation after his wife eloped with another man from hospital

  A lawsuit filed by a man seeking to be compensated by St Mary's Mission Hospital in Kenya for allowing his wife to leave the hospital with another man after giving birth, has been struck out by a law court.    The appellant had sued the St. Mary's Mission hospital at Kakamega law courts in 2020 seeking general damages from the facility on grounds that the hospital had discharged his wife and allowed her to leave with another man. After delivering and at the time of discharge, the wife of the appellant claimed he was the baby's father.   The court of appeal judges Patrick Kiage, Mumbi Ngugi and Francis Tuiyott sitting at the Kisumu Court of Appeal, empathized with the man, but disagreed that he (the appellant) be compensated by the hospital for not detaining his wife.  They upheld the lower court's judgement which added that there's no remedy that lies in the law for such grievances.   Kiage said;   "I agree that if a man takes the woman he loves to t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nigerian Military hands over 23 rescued children to UNICEF through Borno State

The Nigerian military has handed over 23 children who were formerly associated with Boko Haram insurgents, to UNICEF through the Borno State government.  The children were picked up during various military operations around the north-east region. Aged between 17 and 10 years, the boys and girls confessed to the military that they have been assisting the Boko Haram insurgents either as fighters or domestic helps in the camps. The Theatre Commander of a military counterinsurgency force, Abba Dikko, said the 23 children were released in line with Nigeria military’s commitment to the observance of human rights. He observed that the children and other vulnerable persons were victims who faced with the highly unstable circumstances induced by the conflict would have had little option but to fall under the thrall of the insurgents.  “We were able to identify this category of people, especially the women, the aged and children to whom it behooves our sense of duty and res...
Post a Comment
Read more