2023 Election And The Quest For Justice

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere — Martin Luther King Jr

Since 1999 when Nigeria’s democracy kick-started, almost all the elections in Nigeria from the local government level down to the federal government level are coloured with violence and marred with numerous inadequacies, resulting in a high level of litigation. Even though this is notable to all developing nations, Nigeria seems to be more peculiar. Election petition cases account for a larger percentage of cases before Nigerian courts.

Just like before, the 2023 general elections remain indifferent. After over 72 hours of votes counting, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) finally announced the winner of the Nigeria 2023 presidential election around 4 am on the first day of March. However, rather than happiness, gloom beclouded the country, except for the ruling party (All Progressive Congress) and its supporters whose candidate Bola Tinubu won the election.

A closer look at this victory indicates that; what could be said to be the actualisation of Bola Tinubu’s long-term dream has become a nightmare to many Nigerians who are not supporters of the APC and the Emilokan Tinubu train. Of course, it is the way of democracy to have an elected winner and loser(s), but then, the coldness among the populace is not necessarily due to Asiwaju’s victory, but rather INEC’s failure.

It is due to INEC’s failure to conduct a free, fair, and credible election after several assurances and reassurance that they will uphold fairness and credibility as outlined by the 2022 electoral act. This singular act of unfairness and lack of credibility as observed by the multitude of Nigerians, opposition parties, and foreign election observers has cascaded into another election petition before the Nigerian court.

In every nation of the world, the judiciary remains the last hope of the common man. It is seen as the umpire saddled with the responsibility of interpreting the law and upholding justice within the society. This responsibility is entrenched in every arena of the nation including their democracy. As a cornerstone of democracy, the judiciary must maintain justice and impartiality when adjudicating electoral petitions in all democratic nations, including Nigeria.

In the last eight years of APC-led administration, the Nigerian judiciary has gone under the crucible of hot antagonism and accusation by many Nigerians, both at home and in the diaspora. The judiciary has been accused of lowering itself to become a puppet in the hands of politicians. The proliferation and intervention of judiciary in Nigeria elections has made many Nigerian thinkers question if Nigeria still practices democracy or ‘courtocracy?’ Since the onus of deciding who rules the people has shifted from the people to the judges.

Chief Justice of the federation, Justice Kayode Ariwoola of the supreme court has been berated for using his office to brood and nurture impunity in Nigeria. A vivid example was provided in the case of Hope Uzodinma, the governor of Imo, who came fourth in the State (APC) primary election but was miraculously upheld as the winner of the election by the Supreme Court.

A more recent event was the case of Ahmad Lawal, the former senate president who was also upheld as the winner of the Yobe North senatorial district election, an election he did not partake in because he had also bought the presidential ticket and taken it to be more critical than the senate seat.

The cockamamie judgments that have been emanating from the Supreme Court and other Nigerian courts have made many Nigerians lose faith in the judgment of the court. The court has proven in the time past that they don’t serve justice to those who deserve it, but rather to those who can pay heavily for it. It is evident from recent Nigerian judicial precedents that judgment and justice are not synonymous. The Nigerian Justice system following its precedents; has tilted towards Aristotle’s description of justice which he refers to as the “will of the superior” In his classic work “The Republic.’ In Nigeria, the superior is the rich politicians who can pay and pocket justice.

However, Nigerians, heavily laden, are riddled with the mystery of whether it’s possible to expect something good from the Nazareth of the supreme court or continue to believe the court will always dance to the dictate of corruption. Information is already emanating from the court about INEC’s refusal to release election materials to the opposition parties for inspection, and the court has refused to be of help even though it was the court’s order for the aggrieved parties to do so.

It is good to remind the Nigerian Judiciary that this is another opportunity for the court to redeem its soiled image among Nigerians. The most precious aspect of liberal democracy isn’t majority rule, but limiting the power of the ruler to protect the citizen’s rights. Without the citizen’s rights, Nigeria remains a masked fascist nation. Even though Nigeria is yet to amend its constitution in a manner where electoral petitions will be determined within 14 days just like Ghana and Kenya, the Nigerian judiciary can however learn from their precedents and allow justice to prevail.

• Ameh Samuel is a journalist and researcher

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