of pending election-related cases should send us thinking about the nature of the country we are in, as well as its future. Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, the court’s president who announced the cancellation of the vacation said this became inevitable “considering the enormous petitions the court is faced with”.
We can say litigation is an integral part of democracy; that people who are not satisfied with the conduct or outcome of an election should approach the courts for redress. As a matter of fact, we have been celebrating many people who follow that course of action since the return to civil rule in 1999; instead of resorting to violence to settle whatever the political scores are. But we have got to a point where we should begin to interrogate some of these electoral litigations.
The number of election-related cases pending in our courts is simply amazing. I have no doubt that such would make theif those compiling the facts for the ‘wonder book’ take interest in such matters. According to the summary of cases in the Court of Appeal Divisions prepared by the head, legal services unit, Mrs. Adaeze Oby Aziwe, a total of 2,397 appeals and 5,120 motions were filed during the period under review.
With such a huge number of political cases in courts, the impression is erroneously created that our politicians really love us that they cannot see their opponents sitting on the same seats they both contested for, ostensibly on our behalf. But nothing can be more fallacious. If this country has had leaders who fight for the common good the way they fight for political office and relevance, we should not be where we are today.