As Nigeria’s election tribunal is set to begin hearing opposition petitions challenging president-elect Bola Tinubu’s victory on Monday, the Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Festus Keyamo, has warned that calling for a speedy determination of the petitions before May 29 may be counterproductive.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had announced Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress party as winner of the election, defeating his closest rivals Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party and Labour Party’s Peter Obi, who alleged fraud and have launched a court challenge.
The hearing on May 8 will be before Court of Appeal judges, who constitute the tribunal, but Keyamo said on Sunday that those calling for the determination of the Election Petitions before the swearing-in ceremonies on May 29th are either ignorant or mischievous.
“Those who think by such a call they are doing the Petitioners any good, do not realise that they are, in fact doing a great harm to the cases of the Petitioners,” the Minister said.
According to him, it is the Petitioners who need more time to prove their cases and not necessarily the defendants and the cases files cannot be determined before May 29th because of the time given by the rules for parties to file their Notices of Appeal and exchange their briefs.
“It is more arduous to prove an Election Petition than to defend it…The rules of Election Petitions do not allow Petitioners to prove their cases piecemeal. A Petitioner cannot pursue a single point up to the Supreme Court and after losing, return to the Tribunal or Court and say he/she/it wants to now prove other aspects of the case.
“The advocates of pre-May 29th determination of the Election Petitions are doing the cases of their Principals (the Petitioners) great harm. They should realise that just as we say ‘justice delayed is justice denied’, we also say ‘justice rushed is justice crushed’,” Keyamo said.
Under Nigeria’s electoral laws, the first day of hearing will see candidates’ lawyers agree on the witnesses and evidence to be used during the proceedings.
While Atiku and Obi are asking the tribunal to invalidate Tinubu’s victory on the ground that the election was fraught with irregularities, among other criticisms, Tinubu, who is set to be sworn in on May 29, says he won “fair and square” and wants the petitions dismissed.
Although there have been numerous legal challenges to the outcome of Nigeria’s presidential elections in the past, none has been successful.
Obi who previously reclaimed his “lost mandate” from the 19 April, 2003 governorship election in Anambra State through the court says he is confident the process will yet again deliver him victory.
The NewsG