By Business A.M.
A coalition of civil societies and leaders of thoughts have called for the upcoming electoral cases in court to be televised and for the judgments to be delivered before the scheduled date of the swearing in of newly elected election winners.
The group is inviting Nigerians to sign up an appeal on comonvoice.ng a non partisan platform built to enable Citizens and Consumers express their views on issues concerning their lives to Government and Corporations
In a statement issued by Anthony Kila, a Professor of Strategy and Development and CIAPS centre director, the group observed that the recently concluded 2023 elections have “left Nigeria in a very divisive state with a significant part of the country considering the elections free and argue that elections results reflect the wishes of the people, while another significant part of the country considers the elections highly flawed and considers the results unacceptable and that the dualism is causing a lot of tension in the country”.
Kila noted that as concerned citizens,one of the best ways to douse the tension in the country, restore unity and legitimize the incoming government is to make sure that all parts get a convincing, transparent and timely adjudication of electoral cases that will give all sides in the country a sense of clarity and justice that will bring an end to all ongoing controversies.
To this end, the group is appealing to the chief justice of Nigeria to use his discretion to ensure that:
1. Electoral cases in court are made truly public by ensuring TV coverage of proceedings
2. Electoral cases in court are adjudicated before the swearing in date of 29th May 2023
In addition to the statement, leading human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) as well as Yakubu Maikyau, national president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) have backed calls for the televising of the presidential election tribunal proceedings.
