Judge Worried Over April Poll.

As Nigerians prepare to cast their votes in the forthcoming election, retired Supreme Court Justice, Hon. Justice G.A. Oguntade, has expressed concern that some factors may undermine the electioneering process.

Speaking at a memorial lecture in honour of the late Hon. Justice Adefarasin, organised by the Christian Lawyers’ Fellowship of Nigeria (CLASFON), Justice Oguntade said that although the Independent National Electoral Commisssion(INEC) has made adequate preparations for the poll, a number of factors may still jeopardise the process.

According to Justice Oguntade, the factors include infractions of the electoral law, collusion by INEC officials, distrust of INEC and the court, unwillingness by politicians to accept election results, corruption of election officials, poverty of the majority of voters, over monetisation of the electioneering process and delay in the adjudication process.

Explaining some of these factors, Justice Oguntade said: “ It is common knowledge that there is extreme poverty in Nigeria. Some people living in our rural areas are so poor that in order to eke out a modicum of existence, they resort to the batter sysytem. Poverty on this level will make many voters malleable to the designs of the politicians.

“Most of the politicians are unwilling to accept the results of election. This attitude best reveals the unwillingness of politicians to abide by the choice made by the electors. They would rather litigate up to the highest level possible with a view to reversing the choice made by the electors. This behaviour needlessly emburdens the system and the courts. It does put the court in an invidious position as the body deciding the election.

“It is a well known fact that our elections are governed by law where the procedure and principles governing the election offences arising therefrom are set out. But these laws and guidelines are honoured more in their breach than observance.

“People distrust INEC and the court. I expressed the view that INEC often showed itself as unreliable in some cases. But even in cases where elections have been fairly and satisfactorily conducted, the practise of the politician is to ascribe corruption and dishonesty to the results announced by INEC. Similarly, the courts are not trusted. The court system operates in accordance with the law of evidence. This has created a situation where the court is not trusted. It is not exaggerated that the average Nigerian believes that all judges are corrupt.”

Justice Oguntade added that if these issues are not properly addressed, the coming election may still be marred by irregularities.

—Henry Ojelu