Tribunal: Electoral Law Needs To Be Amended To Give Petitioners More Time To Gather Evidence' Okpara

Following the recent judgment delivered by the five-man panel of Appeal Court Justices in response to cases filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party, which challenged the outcome of the February 25 presidential election, renowned lawyer and activist, Barrister Maxwell Okpara, has emphasized the need to amend Nigeria’s electoral laws. The objective of such amendments would be to facilitate petitioners in presenting stronger cases during election tribunals.

During an interview in a video (1:00) on ARISE TV’s ‘ Night,’ Okpara noted that his peripheral involvement in the proceedings of the just-concluded Election Petitions Tribunal revealed that petitioners were given insufficient time to gather essential evidence and summon enough witnesses to substantiate their respective cases. He regarded this as a violation of their right to a fair hearing in court.

Okpara went on to encourage civil society groups to exert pressure on the National Assembly to amend the Electoral Act, particularly in the area of providing petitioners with more time.

He stated, “There’s an urgent need for the executive and civil society groups to approach the National Assembly regarding the necessity to amend our electoral law to grant petitioners more time. The issue of petitioners having only a few days to collect evidence and approach the court, with no possibility of amending filed documents, seriously undermines the principle of a fair hearing.”

Okpara added, “Having partially participated in this election petition tribunal, I observed that one of the challenges faced by petitioners is that, by the time they gather evidence and bring their witnesses to court, time is already working against them. This issue significantly affected them.”

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