Aare Afe Babalola, the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), argued on Monday that incumbent judges should not preside over election petition courts.
To avoid the halting of cases unconnected to elections, the nonagenarian Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) suggested that judges who preside over election tribunals be separated from normal court justices.
He proposed that tribunal judges be retired judges and respectable SANs.
The legal eminence, who spoke at an event in Ado-Ekiti to commemorate his 60th year at the Bar, stated that the judiciary requires a complete revamp.
“Our judiciary today needs a total overhaul and you cannot do it without a new constitution,” he said. “I have about three cases myself in respect of matters arising from the university.”
“For the past four years, these cases have been on. We have some judges here, the headquarters won’t be able to sit for many months because they are handling what they call election petitions.
“Election petitions should not be handled by sitting judges, they should be decided only by the committee set up consisting of senior advocates and retired judges in that case regular courts would not close down,” Babalola stated.
With the conduct of the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections, as well as the March 18 governorship and state assembly elections, many dissatisfied contestants filed petitions at tribunals in Abuja and states, challenging the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declarations.
Dignitaries at the occasion include former President Olusegun Obasanjo; the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah; the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi; former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Emeka Anyaoku; human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), amongst others.
