Falana: Election results shouldn’t be decided by the courts.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, thinks the Supreme Court’s ruling in the presidential election dispute on Thursday effectively terminated the race, however he argued that it is not ideal for the courts to determine election outcomes.
Speaking as a guest on Channels Television yesterday, Falana emphasised that, if done properly, the Independent National Electoral Commission had sole authority over declaring election winners.
This is not a judicial endorsement of the conduct of the election by INEC, but there can be no mistake that the Supreme Court’s ruling terminated the electoral contestation over the presidential election held in February.
I mean that even with the judgement, it is abundantly clear that Nigeria still has a long way to go before it can hold elections that are credible, elections that are free of acrimony, and elections of which we can all be proud.
“Yes, for the time being, the presidential election is over. It should have been over in February, but the Supreme Court just decided it, and that’s not right. Election outcomes should not be decided by the courts.
“Judges are not suited to determine the winners of election; that is a job that is the exclusive reserve of INEC if things are done properly and that is why we must put an end to the shame that has become our law in terms of conducting elections,” stated Falana.
The Senior Advocate stated that Nigeria has a larger obligation to set its house in order so that black people are not insulted all over the world since it has the highest concentration of black people on earth.
If the political class is sincere and committed to holding fair and open elections, he continued, “it doesn’t take much.”
On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Nigeria confirmed President Bola Tinubu’s election and rejected challenges from the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party’s (LP) Peter Obi.
The seven-judge panel chaired by Justice John Okoro found no basis for the appeals filed by the opposition, which had alleged fraud, violations of election law, and Tinubu’s ineligibility to run for president.
