CHAPTERIZATION
PRELIMINARY PAGES
Title
page…………………………………………. i
Certification……………………………………… ii
Dedication……………………………………….. iii
Acknowledgement
……………………………… iv
Table
of contents……………………………….. v
Table
of Cases………………………………….. vi
Table
of Status…………………………………. vii
Abbreviations………………………………….. viii
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Research Questions
1.4 Objectives of the Study
1.5 Research Methodology
1.6 The Significance of the Study
1.7 The Scope of the Study
CHAPTER TWO
ORIGIN AND JURISDICTION OF ELECTION
PETITION TRIBUNAL IN NIGERIA
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Origin of Tribunal in Nigeria
2.3 Jurisdiction of election petition in
Nigeria
2.3.1 Establishment and constitutive jurisdiction
2.3.2 Subject matter jurisdiction
2.3.3 Parties Jurisdiction
CHAPTER THREE
CASES ON ELECTION PETITION TRIBUNAL IN
EBONYI STATE
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Ali Ucha
and ors vs Elechi and ors
3.3 Frank Ogbuewu v. Elechi
3.4 Kelvin Opeke v. Election
3.5 Hon Chima v. Hon. Igwenwagu
3.6 Francis Elem v. Tobias Okwuru
3.7 Hon Umunta v Hon Valentine Okike
3.8 Ominyi Egwu and 1 ors v Hon. Peter Ogeali
and 2 ors
CHAPTER FOUR
APPRAISAL OF THE DECISION OF THE
ELECTION PETITION TRIBUNALS
4.1 Limitation
4.2 Fair Hearing
4.3 Hearing speed
4.4 Evidence
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION
5.1 Observation
5.2 Recommendation
5.3 Conclusion
Bibliography
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
OF THE STUDY
Nigeria is heterogeneous and
populous. It has about 374 ethnic formations[1].
It is peculiarly plural by vast number of different social groups. Second, by
vast number of different religious and traditional occupations. Third, the deep
and fundamental differences in attitude, character and culture[2].
Election is a multi facet challenge
in Nigeria. Military incursions into political governance, tribalism, corruption
and apathy have deepened the electoral challenges confronting the Nation.
Consequently, the structure and dynamics of contemporary electoral process in
Nigeria has become complex. Electoral process involves the method through which
a person is elected to an office. It is the taking and counting of votes. A
cursory discourse of the past electoral process in Nigeria is inevitable for
the purposes of clarity of work.
In historical parlance, the southern
and Northern protectorates were mechanically amalgamated into one geographical
entity called Nigeria in 1914. Sir Fredrick Lord Luggard became the first
governor General. Successively, Sir Hugh Clifford came on board and introduced
the 1922 constitution. The remarkable provision made by the said constitution
was the introduction of elective principle and the establishment of the
Legislative Council.
All over the world, one of the
hallmarks of democracy is the regular and frequent elections to choose who will
occupy a position or an office in a peaceful and orderly manner. The need for
regularity or election as the basis of electing an occupier of an office is
based on the fact that it is about the only way that we can peacefully transit
from one person to the other and from one government to another.
It is imperative to note that, an
election is an election, only where the votes of majority counts and is counted
notwithstanding the expression of the minority. Whoever eventually emerges as a
result of an election will be seen to be representing the people.[3] There
is no where in the world where we have a perfect election irrespective of the
advancement in economic, political and socio-standing. This is because it is a
human endavour, thus, we cannot expect any perfection. Notwithstanding this
position, there appears to be irreducible minimum standard in determining a
free and fair election. Such determinants includes: an impartial arbiter, enabling environment,
freedom of the electorate to choose their candidate(s), orderliness, to mention
a few.
The realization of the possible
imperfections in the electoral system calls for a redress mechanism where an
aggrieved individual will ventilate his or her grievances against the outcome
of the election. This is the rational behind the institutionalization of
election petition all over the world. In Nigeria, we have some election
petition tribunals,[4] established to handle election cases.
A close study of political landscape
today on the approach of politicians to polities convey that a lot still needs
to be done to enable us have elections which are free and fair as referred by
the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria[5].
The major setback on our elections has been a direct effect of corruption in
the land, which has transformed into full fledged poverty in the society.
Section 16(2) (d)[6] enjoins
the State to ensure that suitable and adequate shelter, suitable and adequate
food, reasonable national minimum living, wage, old age care and pension,
employment, sick benefits and welfare of disabled are provided for all
citizens. In situation where all these are not in place as we currently have in
Nigeria, elections are far from being free and fair.
Since elections are virtually free
and fair, disputes are common after math. It is therefore imperative to in all
intents that aggrieved parties should not take laws into their hands, as the
1999 constitution[7] provides
for the establishment of one or more election tribunals, which shall to the
exclusion of any other court or tribunal, have original jurisdiction to hear or
determine petitions. Its subsection 2 indicates the establishment of the State
election tribunal to be known as the Governorship and Legislative House
Election Tribunal which should have the original jurisdiction to hear the
petitions as to whether any person has been validly elected to the office of
the governor or as a member of any legislative House. In this work, we shall
concentrate on the Election Petition Tribunal in Nigeria, using Ebonyi State as
a case study.
There appears to be a rise in the election disputes in
Nigeria. This should not be seen as a weakness of the system as it must be
acknowledged that election disputes are inherent in the electoral process.
Thus, such rise in number should rather be viewed as an indication of the
strength, vigour, robustness, vitality and openness of the democratic system
rather than as signs of weakness in the system.
The fair and
timely resolution of electoral disputes is a critical part of any electoral
process and there is a word-wide consensus that those availing themselves of
formal adjudication process should be entitled to a quick and soft resolution
of their disputes by an independent and impartial tribunals, in this case, the
Election Petition Tribunal was established to handle disputes arising from the
conduct of election in various states of the federation. The problem of quick
resolution of electoral disputes appears to be the main challenge of Election
Petition Tribunal in Nigeria. The tardiness in resolution of electoral disputes
appears to be the rational for the view that the courts should hands off
election petitions. In Nwodo V. Onoh,[8]
Showemimo CJN enthused:
“Academic lawyers have indicated that the courts of
justice are not competent to deal with elections… in some cases the decisions
of the courts were regarded as an assumption of jurisdiction of voters in their
different decisions as to who they voted for to govern or represent them. Thus
is a misconception. What the courts are called up to deal with are the
application of legal principles to the different elections filed before them.
The academic exercise to oust the jurisdiction of a court in election petition
is welcome but I do hope that such attempts should be directed to
legislature….”
The first major hotly contested election petition in
Nigeria, in my view, was the celebrated case of Awolowo v. Shagari,[9]
where Chief Obafemi Awolowo who lost out at the general election held on 11th
August 1979 filed a petition against Alahaji Shehu Shagari who was declared the
winner of the election. It is intended in this paper to critically appraise the
Decision Election Petition Tribunals in Nigeria, using Ebonyi State as a case
study Jurisdiction of Election Petition Tribunal in Nigeria, assessment of the decisions
of Election Petition Tribunal in some States in Nigeria, using Ebonyi State as
a case study way forward and conclusion.
1.2 Statement
of the Problem.
As noted earlier in the background
of this work, the conduct of election is not always free and fair. As a result
of this, disputes resulting in the irregular conduct of elections abound. And
these disputes must be resolved for both parties to be happy and for justice to
be attained. Lots of laws have been made to regulate the conduct of election in
Nigeria, yet, disputes are always the out come of almost every election in
Nigeria. Similarly, many election tribunals have being established for the
primary purpose of resolving election disputes in Nigeria. In this case, the Election
Petition Tribunal which was established to handle disputes arising from the conduct
of Election. Scholars have not minced words voicing their views on this area,
even though at the moment, few text books have been written on election petition tribunal in Nigeria. Even
such works as exist only treat cases decided by different election petition
tribunals. It appears that election petition tribunal is a no-go-area for
Nigeria writers. This is an observation we arrived by brief literature review.
This is because the issue of disputes arising from the conduct of election is
left for the tribunal.
Another problem in this area is that
the power of the Election Petition Tribunal to hear and determine petition is
not final. This is because an appeal from the tribunal goes to Court of Appeal.
It therefore means that the decision of election tribunal are not final, since
such judgments are subjected to the supervision of the Court of Appeal by way
of appeal. Lack of free and fair election or irregularities in the conduct of election is another problem. This is so,
because it is these irregularities sometime that give rise to petitions in the Election Petition Tribunals in Nigeria.
All these point to the fact that
there is need further regulation of the conduct of persons towards election
activities in Nigeria. Hence, this study seeks to take a wholistic approach in
appraising the decision of Election Tribunal in Nigeria in order to ascertain
the adequacy or otherwise of such decision. It also seek to suggest a way
forward.
1.3 Research
Questions
The following questions are what this study aims to
answer.
(a) Whether
the decision of the Election Petition are adequate enough to satisfy the
parties to a case?
(b) Whether
the Election Petition Tribunal has been observing the provisions of the
Electoral Act and other rules and regulations in delivering its decisions.
(c) Given
that some laws have been for the purpose of settling disputes arising from the
conduct of election, can we say that the problem in this area is the law or the
tribunal charged with the function of resolving this disputes?
(d) Can we
say that the decision of the election petition in Nigeria reflect the spirit of
democracy, going by the current state of affairs in the country?
(e) What is
the way forward?
1.4 Objectives of the Study
The
Objective of the study is to critically appraise the decision of the Election Petition Tribunal in Nigeria and
specifically to;
a. Determine
the adequacy or otherwise of the decision of the Election Petition Tribunal in Nigeria, using
Ebonyi State as a case study.
b. Determine
the adequacy or otherwise of certain provisions of the Electoral Act in
resolving election disputes arising form the conduct of election in Nigeria
using Ebonyi State as a case study.
c. Determine
the problems which have been militating against the Election Petition Tribunal in delivering its
decision in Nigeria using Ebonyi State as a case study.
d. Determine
the extent which decision of Election Petition Tribunal reflect the spirit of
democracy in Nigeria.
e. To
make a case for the giving of more attention in this area of the law.
f. To
make recommendations for the way forward.
1.5 Research Methodology
The
procedure in arriving at the judgments of the election petition tribunal is
mostly regulated by statute. Hence, in writing this work, much reliance will be
placed on the primary source of data i.e. statutes, subsidiary instruments and
most especially judicial authorities.
Secondary sources of data will also be of
immense help in clarifying some knotty issues. In this age of information
technology (IT), we cannot but exploit the opportunities presented by internet,
in order to know the current views of writers in this area and as well acquaint
ourselves with the trend of other jurisdictions.
1.6 The Significance of the Study
The study on critical appraisal of decision
of the Election Petition in Nigeria will definitely go a long way in finding
solution to the problem in this area of law.
The study will be useful to the
following people and institutions.
The Government: The state government will find this study useful as a
guide in policy making, especially on the area of performance of the Election
Petition Tribunal in Nigeria using Ebonyi State as a case study.
The Tribunal The Election Petition Tribunal of various States in
Nigeria will find this study handy in delivering its decision.
Researchers and Students: Judgments of the Election Petition Tribunal is one of
the most controversial area in our legal systems, this study will serve as a
useful guide and reference point to researchers and students, whenever they are
faced with any problem in this area.
As a follow-up, law teachers will
equally find this study as a useful material in preparing their lecture note in
this area of law. This study has been designed in such a way that it
incorporates almost every area of Law and it is aimed at contributing to
scholarship and expansion of knowledge.
1.7 Scope
of the Study
The concept of election is enshrined
in every modern constitution anywhere in the World, because it is a process by
which people choose their leaders. And dispute is almost always the outcome of
every election anywhere in the world that election is held. These disputes
normally give rise to petitions in the Tribunal or Courts as the case may be
for the purpose of determination. In order to appreciate the objective and
result of this study, we will restrict the critical appraisal of decision of
the Election Petition Tribunal, in Nigeria using Ebonyi State as a case study.
Finally, our appraisal will be
restricted to the decision of the Election Petition Tribunal in Ebonyi State of
Nigeria, with a view to discovering any defect in such decision.
1.8 Limitations
of the Study
The study on the critical appraisal
of the decision of the Election Petition Tribunal in Nigeria like every other
discussion on law and humanity has certain inherent limitations. Some of these
limitations arise from the fact that this area has not received much of the
attention of Nigerian legal scholars. Sad enough, this area of law is not
treated as a topic in any university. Also, the attitude of the tribunals and
courts constitutes another limitation.
Other limitations include: time in
writing this work, the writer lacked enough time owing to the fact that he has
been combining it with his other class assignments. Also, the writer lacked
resources to embark on the voyage of discovering beyond the confines of this
institution of learning.
[1] Justice
I.A Umezulike “An Overview of communal conflicts in Nigeria: Our
skeptical view and suggestions. Nigerian Bar. Journal, vol 2, 2003, p. 151.
[2] B.O.
Nwabueze, Ideas and facts in
constitutional making. Spectrum books Ltd, Ibadan, 2003, p. 221. General Muhammad Burhari v. INEC
and 4 ors (2006) 36 NSCOE) 475 at p. 698 para. B.C.
[3] Emeka
Umeagbalasi-The Concept of election
monitoring/Observation in Nigeria
is rougish and outdated. How can Nigeria civil society organizations
abet election rigging.
http/wwww.Saharareports.Com/press-release/concept-election visited 22/07/2012.
[4]
Governorship and Legislative House, Presidential Election Petition and the
National Assembly Election Petition, Tribunals
[5] Sections
15-18 of the 1999 constitution as amended
[6] Section
16 (2) (d) ibid.
[7] Section
285, ibid.
[8] Nwodo v. Onoh (1984) I.S.C.pg 1