Prioritize substance, not technicalities, forum tasks judiciary on electoral disputes

The Electoral Forum has urged the nation’s judiciary to decide elections disputes on substances rather than technicalities.

This was contained in the outcome of the eighth technical session of the forum held via zoom and signed by its Chairman, Prof. Adebayo Olukoshi.

“Considering the recent Supreme Court decisions, the forum believes that the judiciary must be called to account to ensure that their rulings and judgments do not jeopardize the electoral system or our democracy.

“Members also stated that election-related issues should not be resolved on a technical basis, and that if elections are found to be invalid, reruns should be held to ensure that electoral outcomes are solely the result of popular vote. This will engender confidence and prevent people from losing faith in the electoral process.

“The forum also expressed concern about the impact of the Supreme Court judgment on the electoral process and its negative impact on the perception of many Nigerians about the electoral process, as they are looking for any excuse to confirm their fears,” Olukoshi said.

The meeting, which was supported by OSIWA, focused on recent developments in the electoral process and Supreme Court judgements and pre-election risks, with emphasis on how to manage different threats for the 2023 general election.

The forum noted that during the meeting that current trends in the political system were multitasking and required multi-stakeholder engagement.

They said, “These trends are as follows: fuel scarcity, the newly redesigned currency, concerns about adequate training of ad hoc staff to correctly record and upload accreditation details, and the BVAs in light of the recent Osun governorship judgement which nullified the election due to overvoting, and the allocation of BVAs based on number of PVCs collected.”