Unic Press UK: The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has solicited the assistance of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) on the issue of conflicting orders/judgments by the courts in Nigeria.
Speaking on 17th January, when he led a team from INEC to the office of the CJN, the INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu said:
“… in a recent leadership crisis in one political party, the Commission was served with six conflicting judgments and orders from courts of coordinate jurisdiction within a short period of three months (May – July 2016). Similarly, the Commission was confronted by conflicting pronouncements by the lower courts on matters already decided by the superior courts, including the Supreme Court. This is making the work of the Commission very difficult and creating unnecessary negative public perception for INEC and, I must say, the Judiciary as well. My Lords, in the course of discharging our responsibilities, no public institution in Nigeria is subjected to more litigations than INEC. Over the last two years (2016 and 2017), the Commission has been involved in 454 court cases, in addition to 680 cases determined by the Election Petition Tribunals, arising from the outcomes of the 2015 General Elections, making a total of 1,134 cases so far,” INEC wrote of it website on 19th January 2018)
Responding to the request from INEC, the Chief Justice of Nigeria Judge W.S. Nkanu Onnoghen CFR said the issue of the conflicting decisions among different courts are the result of a series of summons filed by the politicians in different courts, with different facts. He also said:
“the beauty of the system is that it has a way of correcting itself. That is why you have the appellate system to take care of errors and mistakes committed in the course of court proceedings and in respect of substantive law,” INEC report in its news portal on 19th January 2018)
