NIGERIAN ELECTION LAW CENTER – CASES AND JUDGMENTS

ABENGOWE V. WACHUKU [SUPREME COURT, 3PLR/1955/2 (SC)]

ELECTION LAW/MATTERS:- Election Petition – Spoilt and invalid ballot papers – Grounds for invalidating elections – Breach of regulations by presiding officer –How treated

ELECTION LAW/MATTERS:- Breach of election regulations by election officers – When would lead to cancellation of election outcome – Nature of non-compliance required to invalidate an election

ABIMBOLA DARAMOLA V. WALE ARIBISALA AND ANOR.

ELECTION PETITIONS – COMPUTATION OF TIME: Section 141 of the Electoral Act – Whether is an exception to the provision of the Interpretation Act as to computation of time – Whether the provisions of Section 141 of the Electoral Act should be solely considered in determining the question of computation of time in election petitions

ELECTION PETITIONS – COMPUTATION OF TIME: Sunday – Whether is a public holiday and as such cannot be counted in computing the time within which an election petition must be presented.

ELECTION PETITIONS – ELECTION PETITION PROCEEDINGS: Whether Election petitions proceedings are in a special class of their own – prohibition of indefinite adjournments or adjournments sine die by virtue of paragraph 25(1) of the said first schedule (Electoral Act) –

ABIODUN OLAOSEBIKAN V. INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION AND ORS.

ELECTION PETITIONS – SECTION 144 (1) OF THE ELECTORAL ACT, 2006:- Who can file an election petition – Whether a candidate or political party can jointly or separately file a petition – Whether mandatory for a candidate to amplify the party that sponsored him in an election in founding his locus standi to bring an election petition – Importance of locus standi as it relates to jurisdiction of a court to hear a matter

ELECTION PETITIONS:- Interpretation of Section 144 (1) of the Electoral Act – Community reading of the provision – Use of “or” in reference to candidate and the political party – Whether are made disjunctive and not conjunctive –

ELECTION PETITIONS:- Section 144(2) of the Electoral Act – Common Law Principle that no agent of a disclosed principal need to be joined in an action which can be pursued against principal – Implications for necessary parties to an election petition

ADEBUSUYI  V. BABATUNDE ODUYOYE

ELECTION LAW/PETITION: – Candidates for election – Meaning and ambits – Nomination of candidates by a political party for an election – Statutory basis – Implication and bindingness on electoral body and locus standi to bring election proceedings

ELECTION LAW/PETITION: – Locus standi to present election petition – How determined – Candidate nominated at party primary but not presented to Electoral body as candidate of the party – Whether has locus standi to bring election petition

ELECTION LAW/PETITION:- Parties to election petitions  – Who can present election petition – Proper parties – Effect of failure to join same – Intra-party affairs – whether Court has jurisdiction to entertain petition arising from same – Whether it is settled law, that a court of law does not engage itself in the determination of a political or intra party matter

ADEGOROYE  V. ALLIANCE FOR DEMOCRACY

ELECTION MATTERS:– Failure to conduct screening exercise – Whether this is a decision to be appealed against internally first under the guidelines of Alliance for Democracy before going to court.

ELECTION MATTERS:– Sponsorship for political post – Determination of – Provisions of section 221 of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act, 2002 considered therein

ADETUNJI AKANDE V. INEC AND ORS.

ELECTION MATTERS – DUTY OF A PETITIONER: Duty of a petitioner that intends to institute an action against the result of an election – Whether administrative problems encountered in the presentation of petition is enough to override the express provision of law

ELECTION MATTERS – ELECTION TRIBUNAL:- Special nature of the jurisdiction of an election tribunal and its distinction from general civil proceedings

ELECTION MATTERS – ELECTION PETITIONS:– Computation of time for presentation of petition – How determined

ELECTION MATTERS –  FILING OF COURT PROCESS: The issue of time to complete the filing of all processes relating to the hearing and determination of an election petition

ELECTION PETITIONS – FILING OUT OF TIME:- Election petition filed out of time at the Election Tribunal – Legal effect

ELECTION PETITIONS:- Filing petition outside 30 (thirty) days – Effect – Date of the declaration of the result or ‘Sunday’ – Whether should be included or excluded in the computation of the days within which a petition must be presented.

ADMIRAL NYAKO V. DR. ARDO AND OTHERS

ELECTION MATTERS – INTRA –PARTY AFFAIRS:– Complaints connected with political parties – When would be deemed to fall within the domestic and internal affairs of the political party – Whether court has jurisdiction to resolve same

ELECTION MATTERS – NOMINATION AND SELECTION OF PARTY:– Whether purely a domestic matter of political parties – Whether the court has jurisdiction over matters arising therefrom

ELECTION MATTERS:– Condition precedent for lodging complaints – Whether lodging complaints or grievances is a condition precedent for seeking redress in Court –  Attitude there to – Whether the Court erred in holding  that the 1st Cross-Respondent had no obligation to lodge his complaints or grievances

AHMED JAMILU SHABEWA AND ANOR. V. UMAR AHMED SULEMAN

ELECTION  MATTERS – UNLAWFUL EXCLUSION FROM ELECTION:- What a Petitioner who claims that he was validly nominated by his  party but was unlawfully excluded from the election needs to plead and prove by evidence in his petition

ELECTION MATTERS – PLEADINGS:- Filing an undated application – Legal effect

AIYELABEGAN KAYODE AND ANOR. V. SALMAN ABDULFATAI AND ORS.

AKANDE V. ADEDAMOLA

ELECTION MATTERS – PLEADINGS:  Filing notice more than one month after the date of the decision appealed against – Effect

ELECTION MATTERS – ELECTION PETITION:- Federal Legislative House (Disputed Seats) Regulations, 1959 – Dismissal of petition – Appeal against dismissal – Whether decision dismissing petition interlocutory – Whether appeal lies to the Federal Supreme Court there from

ELECTION MATTERS – ELECTION PETITION:- Interlocutory decision – Whether appeal lies there from.

ELECTION MATTERS – COURT:– Source of jurisdiction to hear election petitions

AKINWE VICTOR ADESULE V, AKINFOLARIN MAYOWA AND ORS.

ELECTION LAW – ELECTION PETITIONS – COMPUTATION OF TIME: Presentation of election petitions – When time begins to run – Section 141 of the Electoral Act, 2006 in review – Whether court can advert to the Interpretation Act in resolution thereof –

ELECTION LAW – ELECTION PETITIONS – INTEPRETATION ACT:- Importation of – Whether in interpreting the construction of the provisions of the Electoral Act 2006, the intention to apply the Interpretation needs to be expressly stated or implied from the Act itself

ELECTION LAW – ELECTION PETITIONS – REVIEW OF ELECTORAL LEGISTATIONS:- Section 141 of the Act – Review of Electoral Legislations from 1958 to 2006 – Legal effect

ELECTION LAW – ELECTION PETITIONS – IRREGULARITIES IN ELECTION:- Distinction between procedural irregularity and an act which is null and void in an election petition

ELECTION LAW – ELECTION PETITIONS – JOINDER OF PARTIES:- Police officer or military officer alleged to have rioted at an election rather than maintains law and order  – When needs to be made necessary party in the election petition – Effect of failure thereto

ELECTION LAW – ELECTION PETITIONS – PROOF OF FORGERY:- Where the petitioner alleges forgery of results – Proof of – Where a necessity to present two sets of result, one that is correct and another that is false in proof of his allegation

ELECTION LAW – ELECTION PETITIONS – STANDARD OF PROOF:- Rule that where the commission of a crime by a party to any proceeding is directly in issue in any proceeding, civil or criminal, it must be proved beyond reasonable doubt – Applicability of with respect to election petitions

ELECTION LAW – ELECTORAL MATTERS – PROOF OF ELECTION:- Party who asserts that election was conducted – Whether has the evidential burden of proving same

ELECTION LAW – ELECTORAL MATTERS – ELECTION RESULT:- Content of election result in Form EC 8A – Effect of – Whether the polling booth results as set down in Form EC8A, is the primary evidence of the votes cast in an election

ALAHASSAN & ANOR V. MR. DARIUS DICKSON ISHAKU & ORS.

ELECTION LAW/PETITION – NON-QUALIFICATION OF A CANDIDATE:- Proper order to make where a tribunal finds that winner of an election is disqualified

ELECTION LAW/PETITION – JURISDICTION OF ELECTION PETITION TRIBUNAL:- Pre-Election matter – Whether an Election Petition Tribunal has jurisdiction to inquire into primaries of political party

ELECTION LAW/PETITION -NULLIFICATION OF ELECTION:- Nullification of election of successful candidate on ground of lack of qualification required for the election – Effect of

ALH. BADAMASI KABIR & ANOR v. ACTION CONGRESS (AC) & ORS.

ELECTION PETITIONS – AMENDMENT OF ELECTION PETITION: Fact, that subparagraph 1 of paragraph 14 of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act 2006 which makes provisions for the application of the Civil Procedure Rules relating to amendments of pleadings is expressly made subject to subparagraph 2 of the same paragraph 14- Whether the general principles of amendment in normal civil matters are not applicable in election petition

ELECTION PETITIONS – ELECTION PETITION PROCEEDINGS: Grounds upon which an election or return of a candidate may be questioned by a Petitioner – “Section 145(1)(a)-(d) of the Electoral Act, 2006 – When the lawmaker provides that the petitioner shall set out the ground for questioning an election – Meaning of – Need for the petitioner to provide the reasons, points or basis upon which he relies to challenge the validity of the election or return of the candidate in whose favour the declaration was made – Duty of Tribunal toground the judgment on points or grounds of law and fact – Effect of failure thereto

ELECTION PETITIONS – ELECTION PETITION PROCEEDINGS:-  Duty of Court or tribunal in doing substantial justice in the hearing of an Election Petition – Need for an Election Petition, a Tribunal or Court to read through the facts pleaded, paragraph by paragraph and match them with the evidence in support of the pleadings, without confining or restricting itself to a particular paragraph

ELECTION PETITIONS – NON-COMPLIANCE:- Proof of – Standard of proof – Whether beyond reasonable doubt – Where the Tribunal was unable to determine the colour of the ink used to make the ticking or markings in the Voters Registers because the petitioners produced photocopied certified true copies – Effect – Whether onus on the Petitioners to have subpoenaed or produced credible evidence to prove their complaints beyond reasonable doubt

ELECTION PETITIONS – PRESENTATION OF ELECTION PETITION: Computation of time in the presentation of election petition – Rule that in calculating or computing time stipulated by statute, generally the first day of the period will be excluded from the reckoning while the last day will be included except, where the last day is a public holiday in which case the end of the following day, which is not a public holiday, will be included – Section 15(2) of the Interpretation Act – Basis and justification for – Whether Interpretation Act applies in Election petitions

ELECTION PETITIONS – PROOF OF NON-ACCREDITATION OF VOTERS:- Onus of proof –  Whether rests on the Petitioner(s) and does not shift to the Respondents – Standard of proof – Whether beyond reasonable doubt

ELECTION PETITIONS – TIME LIMIT TO FILE A PETITION:- Section 141 of the Electoral Act, 2006 – Requirement that an election petition under the Act shall be presented within thirty (30) days from the date the result of the election is declared –  Where 30th day for presentation of the petition at the Registry of the Tribunal terminated on Sunday – Operation of the Interpretation Act Cap 192 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 Section 15(2) (a) (b) (3)(4) and (5) establishes Sunday as a “public holiday”  – Legal effect

ELECTION PETITIONS – VOTERS’ REGISTER:- Sworn deposition – Whether can be used to contradict, alter, add to or vary the contents of the Voters Registers

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