Courts Must Stop Determining Winners Of Elections In Nigeria – Falana

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has called for a major review of the judiciary’s role in Nigeria’s electoral process, saying courts should no longer determine the winners of elections.

Falana made the call while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Thursday, where he discussed the role of the judiciary in addressing disputes arising from elections ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The SAN argued that the courts should have a limited role in the democratic process and should not be allowed to overturn the choices made by voters through the ballot box on technical grounds.

“The role of the judiciary in the electoral process in Nigeria must be addressed. We must stop the practice whereby the courts, the panel, determine the winners of elections in Nigeria,” Falana said.

According to him, the priority should be to ensure that elections are conducted in a manner that reflects the genuine choice of voters, thereby reducing the need for prolonged legal battles after elections.

He cited the recent governorship election in Osun State as an example, saying the credibility of an election should ultimately be measured by whether the people are allowed to freely choose their leaders.

“Forget all the shortcomings. At the end of the day, the beauty of it would be that the governorship election will not go to court because the people have decided, they’ve elected their leader,” he said.

Falana warned that courts should not rely on technicalities to overturn what he described as the popular choice of the electorate.

“So no court should be allowed to hide behind all those technicalities to topple, as it were, or to make a mockery of the popular choice of the people,” he said.

The lawyer maintained that the judiciary could have a more limited role if Nigeria’s electoral system was strengthened to prevent irregularities, including the announcement of false results.

He said responsibility for achieving credible elections rested not only with the judiciary but also with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the media, political actors and other stakeholders.

According to Falana, conducting credible elections would reduce the grounds on which candidates and political parties could challenge results before election tribunals and regular courts.

“We must start with the conduct of good elections so that, as in most African countries, our courts will have limited role in the democratic process,” he said.

Falana also called on the legal profession to begin preparations ahead of the forthcoming elections by examining the role of lawyers and judges in the electoral process.

He said he expected the Nigerian Bar Association to convene a meeting involving election experts and lawyers to deliberate on concerns surrounding the participation of legal practitioners in the democratic process.

“I did suggest the Bar Association must quickly convene a meeting, invite election experts among us, lawyers, so that the Bar can let them know the feeling of members of the public with respect to the role of lawyers and judges in the democratic process in our country,” he said.

The senior lawyer also emphasised the importance of media coverage in ensuring credible elections, urging journalists to properly monitor and report electoral activities.

“The media too must also ensure that elections are properly monitored and well reported as we had in the case of Osun State,” Falana said.

He further cautioned courts and election tribunals against relying excessively on technicalities when adjudicating electoral disputes.

Falana said that while the judiciary must remain available to resolve legitimate disputes, courts should not use legal technicalities to frustrate the will of voters.

“When courts, when tribunals are called upon to intervene in the democratic process, everything must be done. No court, no court should resort to technicalities or cross-legalism to deny the people the right to choose their leaders,” he said.