A retired Appeal Court Judge, Peter Olabisi Ige, has advocated that pre-election matters be determined to finality before a winner is sworn in into office.
He said this is in order to ensure mutual benefit of all the stakeholders in electoral process and adjudication.
The judge spoke at a valedictory session held at the Court of Appeal, Ibadan Division, Oyo State, on Friday.
He also opined that pre-election matters should be instituted and determined before holding an election.
According to him, pre election matters constitute unnecessary decoy and delays in electoral process while unresolved post electoral proceedings is a distraction on the sworn-in ruler.
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He therefore called on INEC to “screen and examine the documents pertaining to eligibility or otherwise of a candidate and whether such candidate meet the criteria laid down by the 1999 constitution.”
Similarly, he called on the Nigerian Bar Association to wade in and the National Assembly to make provisions to forestall the recurrence of cases whereby a sworn-in leader would be recalled due to electoral fraud, after having spent almost four years in administration.
Also, he called for the the decentralisation of the Supreme Court for more effective administration of justice, saying there is nothing wrong if the apex court has divisions in the nation’s six geopolitical zones, like the Appeal Court.
The jurist said the Court of Appeal justices have been depleted due to retirements and deaths, thus making the workload of the intermediate court really heavy.
According to him, more judges need to be appointed, besides the 90 justices the Appeal Court is currently having.
In a tribute presented by Justice M. Chioma Nwosu-Iheme; the presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, on behalf of the president; Court of Appeal; Justice M.B. Dongban-Mensem, the retired Justice was described “as an example of a rose that sprouted from a concrete, evident of the way he rose through the ranks of life in a quest to becoming a reputable Jurist to reckon with.”
