Abuja, Nigeria
The House of Representatives has passed a bill seeking to end governorship election petitions at the Court of Appeal for a second reading.
The sponsor of the bill, Nnamdi Ezechi who represents the Ndokwa East/Ndokwa West/Ukwuani federal constituency of Delta state, seeks a change in section 246 of the 1999 constitution as amended.
The constitution provides that the decisions of the court of appeal in respect of litigations arising from the national, and state houses of assembly election petitions shall be final.
However, the lawmaker is seeking an amendment to include governorship election petitions in the provision of the section of the constitution.
The bill passed its first reading in 2024 at the green chamber.
According to Ezechi, the proposed legislation is intended to mitigate delays and save costs in post-election litigations.
If enacted, the law will prevent gubernatorial election disputes from reaching the supreme court — a departure from the current practice.
There have been cases where the appellate court nullified governorship election results, only for the supreme court to overturn its decision.
The bill is coming at a time when many Nigerians believe the country’s judiciary is being controlled by some politicians.
