Turaki A. Hassan
12 November 2009
Enugu — The present administration's effort at reforming the nation's electoral process will be an exercise in futility if the National Assembly fails to amend certain sections of the 1999 constitution to set a time limit within which all election petitions are disposed of before elected officers are sworn-in, Chairman of the Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) and former Chief Justice of Nigeria Justice Mohammed Lawal Uwais said in Enugu yesterday.
In a paper titled "Time Limit for Election Cases: How Desirable?" which he presented at the ongoing 2009 Senate retreat, Uwais said, "The stay-put directive particularly in the case of the office of the President, Vice-President, Governor, Deputy Governor, gives the office holder undue advantage over his or her opponent as public funds were illegally employed to prosecute or defend the petition or the appeal as the case may be. Moreover, state apparatus (including the media and security agencies) were found to have been deployed by the incumbent to ensure victory at the rerun which put the other party at a disadvantage."
He therefore called for the outright repealing of section 149 of the 2006 Electoral Act to read thus, "No person returned as elected should assume office until the election petition against him or her in the Election Tribunal or Court is disposed of."
Uwais said among the recommendations his committee forwarded to President Umaru Musa Yar'adua were that, "An election tribunal shall deliver its judgment in writing within 120 days (4 months) from the date of the election. An appeal from a decision of election tribunal shall be heard and disposed of within 60 days (2 months) from the date of giving judgment by the election tribunal and in all appeals, the courts shall adopt the practice of first pronouncing their verdict and then reserving the reasons for the verdict to a later date."
"In my opinion it is desirable, feasible and practicable to provide for a time limit in determining election petitions and that is the wisdom in the recommendation by the ERC. Speedy and transparent resolution of electoral disputes is necessary for peaceful resolution of disputes arising from elections in order to win the confidence of the generality of the people," he said.
It would be recalled that this aspect of the ERC report which Uwais presented to President Yar'adua at the eve of the judgment by the Supreme Court on his election, was rejected by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The president later reluctantly forwarded the report to the National Assembly after the lawmakers threatened to dump the six electoral reform bills he sent to them last May.
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