Nigeria: Senate's Commendable Vote On Burden of Proof

6 April 2014

The Senate is on the verge of passing a bill seeking to transfer the onus of proof on electoral disputes from the petitioner to the Independent National Electoral Commission. In taking the bill through second reading on Thursday, the upper chamber showed commendable concern for the desperate plight of petitioners in electoral litigations in the country. Petitioners have carried the burden of proving irregularities that they do not have the resources and capacity to prove in a majority of instances, even when the anomalies are obvious.

INEC needs to first prove that it conducted an election in accordance with the relevant laws before anyone alleging infraction can be required to show otherwise. The bill on burden of proof, if passed into law, would be a significant step forward in the country's continuous quest for decent elections.

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