Talk about a litigious system
Democracy by court order"FOR most of Nigeria's post-independence history, its politicians were more wary of losing office by a coup or assassination than by an adverse vote in a free election. These days, it is the courts they are worried about. Election tribunals that were set up to investigate last April's flawed elections have so far ordered six governors, over a dozen senators and scores of local-government officials to leave office for various electoral shenanigans. On January 28th, President Umaru Yar'Adua is due to appear before his own tribunal—and even his ruling party cannot be certain of the outcome...
"The former military president, Muhammadu Buhari, and the former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, are leading the charge against Mr Yar'Adua—both lost to him in the presidential poll. They allege that the elections were a sham, that the country failed to produce a complete voters' register and that ballots lacked serial numbers (and were therefore impossible to track). Furthermore, Mr Abubakar says he was illegally excluded from the poll until the very last minute, preventing him from campaigning.
"Mr Yar'Adua's team dismiss the allegations, and anyway, they say, any irregularities would not have changed the outcome of the election...
"But the courts still offer hope to those candidates who feel they were cheated. The judiciary is stronger and more independent now than in the past...
"The good news is that the tribunals show that the rule of law is being taken seriously by Nigeria's institutions. But it is still a very roundabout way to democracy. The tribunal process has been expensive, for candidates and for the country. The National Assembly, where many of the members are preoccupied with fending off tribunal cases, has not passed a single law since it first met last June. And the various annulments so far have had little deterrent effect; local elections across Nigeria's states in the past several months have been violent and of dubious credibility.
"Regardless of the first verdict in Mr Yar'Adua's case, it will no doubt be referred up to the Supreme Court. Many wonder if the judges will want to go down in history as affirming an election that almost everyone considers a sham. As one Court of Appeal judge, Helen Moronkeji, put it in a recent election case, “Democracy is not an esoteric or fanciful concept too difficult to grasp.” In Nigeria, it is the judiciary, rather than the politicians, who seem to understand this."See also The Library of Congress guide to the Nigerian legal system
Labels: elections, judiciary, Nigeria, rule-of-law
posted by Ken Wedding @ 10:45 AM
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