Appeal Court Pleads With Politicians to Stop Forcing Courts to Determine Winners of Polls
Appeal Court President, Justice Monica Domgban-Memsen has said that petitions from aggrieved politicians in the 2023 polls are choking the Appellate court.
She asked political class to work on their internal democracy to prevent courts from determining the outcome of polls conducted in the country.
According to him, politicians need to embrace sportsmanship in running of their parties so that all polls conducted would not end up in courts.
The Appeal Court President spoke on the issue on Monday at a special session organized to mark the commencement of the 2023/2024 legal year in Abuja.
From the 2023 polls alone, she said 98 panels set up by the Appeal Courts are still attending to 1,209 petitions from aggrieved candidates.
The breakdown of the petitions are five at the Presidential Poll Court; 147 at Senatorial Poll Petition Tribunal; 417 at the House of Representive Poll Tribunal, 857 State House Of Assembly Poll Tribunals and 83 before the Governorship Poll Tribunals.
She explained that the magnitude of the electoral cases are preventing judges from attending to critical cases, like industrial disputes, land matters, which when determined in good time, could create more jobs and release cash flow into the economy.
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Justice Monica Dongban Memsem said it was worrisome to tie down most of the judges for six months on electoral matters.
She urged politicians to learn how to manage their affairs and learn to let go when necessary.
The Justice said: “Democracy is beautiful, it is the way to go. However, politicians should, in the interest of our national economic development, imbibe the spirit of good sportsmanship.
“They should pay more attention to internal democracy and exercise the spirit of loyalty to a cause which necessarily entail letting go in the interest of discipline and internal harmony.
“All elections need not end up in court. We must all remember that we hold the balance between chaos and order.
“We must therefore maintain our ongoing collaboration in fostering a stronger democratic foundation for our nation in discharging our constitutional role for a more perfect union.”
