Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, has called for urgent judicial reforms in Nigeria, urging that all election-related legal disputes be concluded before newly elected officials are sworn into office.
Jega made the call during a public forum held in Lagos to commemorate June 12 Democracy Day, where he sharply criticised the current electoral judicial process, describing it as inefficient and lacking integrity.
“The Nigerian judiciary needs to be urgently reformed. Globally, the judiciary is said to be the last bastion of hope for the common man. In the Nigerian context, it is really far, far, far from being the bastion of hope for the common man,” he said.
He raised concerns about how individuals are appointed into the judiciary, alleging that recruitment processes have been compromised by favoritism and insufficient screening, resulting in the inclusion of individuals without the necessary competence or ethical standards.
Jega emphasized the need for a structural overhaul that would require the judicial system to finalize all election cases before officials assume office.
“It should be made mandatory that all election disputes are resolved before swearing in of elected executives,” he insisted, stressing the importance of a fair, impartial, and efficient judiciary.
In addition, he condemned the increasing trend of contradictory court rulings, which he said damage the credibility of the judiciary and disrupt the electoral justice process.
“Contradictory orders and the injunctions issued by courts of competent jurisdiction should also be proscribed,” Jega declared.
He also expressed frustration with the prolonged timelines of some pre-election court cases, noting that some are not resolved until long after officials have completed most of their terms in office.
“A situation in which a pre-election matter can last three, four years before it is addressed—long after the wrongly sworn-in person has been there—is terrible,” he said.
Sharing a specific example from his tenure at INEC, he recalled:
“I recall a case when I was at INEC. Somebody elected in 2011 and the pre-election dispute lasted until 2014. By that time, he had been a member of the National Assembly receiving all the perquisites.”
“Unless meaningful changes are implemented, public trust in Nigeria’s electoral and judicial systems will continue to decline.
