2027 polls: Onaiyekan, Osigwe warn against deciding elections in court

ENUGU — Concern over the growing influence of the judiciary in Nigeria’s electoral process dominated discussions at the 22nd All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) in Enugu yesterday, with Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, and former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, warning that elections should be settled by voters at the polls rather than by judges in courtrooms.

The speakers, alongside political economist Prof. Patrick Utomi and other participants, questioned the increasing reliance on litigation to determine electoral victories, particularly as the country prepares for the 2027 general elections.

Their concerns came against the backdrop of declining confidence in some electoral institutions and continuing debates over the credibility of Nigeria’s elections.

The conference was organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) under the theme, “The Ballot, the Media and the Task of Keeping Democracy Alive,” with the sub-theme, “When Lies Look Real: Detecting and Debunking AI Misinformation Before, During, and After Elections.”

The event attracted NGE President and Editor of Vanguard Newspapers, Eze Anaba; Minister of Information Mohammed Idris; Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe; Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah; Jigawa State Governor Umar Namadi; Deputy Governor of Enugu State Ifeanyi Osisi; Vanguard publisher Uncle Sam Amuka; former Ogun State Governor Aremo Olusegun Osoba, among others.

Also present were Prof. Auwal Yadudu, SAN; Chief Onyema Ugochukwu; Tunde Rahman; Prof. Stella Ọkunna; and INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan, represented by the Enugu REC, Chukwuemeka Chukwu. The Information Minister was represented by NAN Managing Director, Ali M. Ali.

Onaiyekan: Courts should settle disputes, not determine winners

In his keynote address, Onaiyekan said elections should be the means through which citizens choose those who govern them, while the judiciary should only intervene to resolve disputes arising from the process.

He expressed concern that the Nigerian electoral system had increasingly shifted toward a situation in which courts and election tribunals became the final battleground for political contests.

“The judiciary is supposed to be the last stage in the electoral process. It should be stressed that the judiciary is not to determine elections about who wins, but rather to adjudicate disputes when they arise,” he said.

The Cardinal said a credible electoral process should reduce the need for prolonged legal battles.

“If elections were well conducted, there ought not to be any need for judicial cases. The tribunals were supposed to be there just in case.”

According to him, however, Nigeria’s recent experience had shown that electoral contests were increasingly being settled in court.

“Our experience in the recent past has almost become that we have been witnessing a situation where our elections are being determined not at the polls, but in the courts by the tribunals.”

He said the situation had created a lucrative field for lawyers to exploit technicalities.

“This gives a field day for high-class lawyers with high-level fees, doing their best to manipulate issues on technicalities,” he said.

Onaiyekan also cited allegations of unjust judgments in election tribunals and said the judiciary’s performance in recent elections had “seriously dented the image of this hallowed institution.”

“There are allegations that are difficult to deny of unjust judgments by some judges in election tribunals,” he said.

He called for efforts to rebuild confidence in the judiciary and urged the media to resist pressure and protect democratic values.

He also advocated electoral reforms, an independent INEC and a constitutional or legal framework requiring a presidential candidate to secure at least 50 per cent of votes cast before being declared winner of a presidential election.

Cleric proposes electoral reforms

Onaiyekan outlined a seven-point reform agenda aimed at limiting the role of post-election litigation in determining electoral outcomes.

He proposed a special election tribunal that would deal exclusively with electoral cases and be required to dispose of petitions within a stipulated period.

He insisted that disputes should be resolved before elected officials are sworn into office.

“More seriously, we must do all that is necessary to dispose of all tribunal cases before swearing in any candidate.”

The cleric also questioned the fairness of allowing a candidate who had already been declared president to take office and then use government resources in defending the victory against a challenger.

“A situation where a candidate has been declared a president still going to tribunal to defend his position using state means and state resources to defend himself against his opponents is not serious as far as natural justice is concerned,” he said.

He further argued that voters themselves should have greater access to electoral litigation.

According to him, candidates are generally the main parties with legal standing to challenge election results, even though ordinary citizens are the people whose votes are ultimately at stake.

“We who cast the votes and whose votes are at stake have no room to complain. This must change,” he said.

Onaiyekan also called for a review of the process of appointing INEC officials, questioning whether the electoral commission could be fully independent when its leadership structure was closely linked to the executive arm of government.

He urged Nigerians not to abandon democracy because of its shortcomings.

“The ultimate objective is to install a government that is freely chosen by the people and that works for the common good of the people,” he said.

The Cardinal also emphasised the importance of the character of political leaders.

“They must be persons with a minimum of social values and character: honesty, concern for the common good of citizens as priority of governance, absolute respect for the rule of just laws.”

He said the media had an important role to play by protecting the information citizens depend on when making electoral decisions, scrutinising public institutions and reporting accurately on elections, tribunals and courts.

He added that the credibility of the 2027 elections would depend not only on the votes cast but also on public confidence in the institutions responsible for counting them, adjudicating disputes and informing citizens.

Osigwe: Nigeria has high number of election petitions

Former NBA President Afam Osigwe supported Onaiyekan’s concerns, saying Nigeria was among countries with a high number of election petitions.

Speaking on “Election Petition in the Digital Age: Independence, Evidence, BVAS,” Osigwe said the frequent involvement of courts in electoral disputes raised questions about whether voters or litigation ultimately determined election outcomes.

“I see that Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest number of election petitions, and all because the courts are very frequently involved in determining either the outcome or who won,” Osigwe said.

He recalled that a judge had previously referred to the situation as the “judicialisation of the electoral process.”

According to Osigwe, electoral disputes increasingly move from polling stations into courtrooms, placing judges in a position to influence the political fate of candidates.

“All too often, the courts are merely called in to give direction on issues of procedure,” he said.

He identified the difficulty of proving electoral violations as one of the reasons litigation persists, particularly because petitioners have limited time to establish their cases.

Osigwe also raised questions about the evidential status of technology used in elections, including BVAS and the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV.

He said technologies intended to improve transparency should not become barriers for candidates seeking to prove alleged electoral irregularities.

Technology, he maintained, should make elections more transparent and should assist petitioners in establishing what happened at polling units.

He also questioned how subpoenaed documents are treated in election petitions, particularly evidence that petitioners could not obtain before filing their cases.

On IReV, Osigwe argued that the platform should be given meaningful evidential recognition in election litigation, even if it was not regarded as the primary evidence of election results.

He also expressed concern over proposed legal provisions which, according to him, could make non-compliance with INEC regulations and guidelines insufficient grounds for challenging an election.

He argued that where INEC had the authority to make regulations and guidelines, failure to comply with them should have consequences for the credibility of the electoral process.

Osigwe questions ‘Go to court’ response

The former NBA president also questioned the common political response of “Go to court” when candidates dispute election outcomes.

He said the expression could raise questions about the level of confidence political actors themselves have in the electoral justice system.

Osigwe also discussed public perceptions of corruption within the judiciary, stressing that he was not personally endorsing allegations of bribery against judges.

He said the perception that litigants might have to pay for favourable judgments was damaging to confidence in the judiciary.

According to him, the concern is especially serious because courts represent the final institutional avenue available to candidates and citizens who believe elections were improperly conducted.

He also raised concerns about public confidence in the electoral commission and the process of appointing its officials.

“The concern is not merely institutional. Where the electoral umpire is perceived as lacking independence, the credibility of election results can be affected even before disputes reach the courts.

“That, in turn, increases the likelihood of litigation and places additional pressure on the judiciary,” Osigwe added.

Anaba: Protect credibility of the ballot

NGE President Eze Anaba said protecting the credibility of the ballot was essential to ensuring that courts did not take the place of voters in deciding who represents them.

“The credibility of the ballot must be protected so that the courts do not have to replace the citizenry in determining who should represent the people,” Anaba said.

He said voters needed credible information and freedom from intimidation and undue influence to make informed electoral choices.

According to him, the media’s responsibility therefore begins before election day, with journalists expected to provide citizens with credible information about candidates, policies and government performance.

Idris warns of AI-generated election misinformation

The conference also focused extensively on the emerging challenge posed by artificial intelligence.

Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris, represented by NAN Managing Director Ali M. Ali, warned that AI-generated misinformation could make fabricated events appear genuine.

He said AI could now produce convincing photographs, videos, audio recordings and documents that never existed.

“A false statement can be produced in the voice of a public official. A fabricated video can be circulated within minutes. An old photograph can be presented as a current event,” Idris said.

He warned that the problem went beyond people believing false information, as citizens could eventually lose confidence in genuine information.

Idris urged editors to make verification an established newsroom culture and challenged journalists to ask questions about the source of claims, the evidence available, the date and origin of photographs, the authenticity of videos and whether information had been independently verified.

He also urged journalists to distinguish clearly between fact, allegation and opinion.

“The job of a professional journalist is not to amplify every claim simply because it is politically attractive. The job is to establish what is true, provide context and allow citizens to make their own judgments,” he said.

Achebe: AI could distort voters’ choices

Obi of Onitsha and chairman of the conference, HRH Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, warned that AI-generated misinformation could distort the information citizens use to make electoral decisions.

He said technology could fabricate a governor’s voice or place a candidate in an event where the person had never been.

“A voice that sounds exactly like a governor can now say what he never said. A video can place a candidate where he never was,” Achebe said.

He expressed concern about the rapid spread of false information through WhatsApp groups, family networks, town unions and community platforms.

Achebe urged journalists to prioritise verification over speed.

“The discipline of pausing to ask, ‘how do I know that this is true?’ must become as instinctive as the instinct to rush to publish used to be.”

He proposed a joint Election Rapid Response Desk involving newsrooms to identify, verify and debunk viral falsehoods before they spread widely.

Describing the ballot as the citizen’s voice and the media as the mirror through which citizens see the world, Achebe said:

“When the mirror is cracked, or worse, deliberately distorted, the citizen no longer votes from truth, but votes from illusion.”

Utomi warns of institutional consequences

Prof. Patrick Utomi said weaknesses in the electoral system could have consequences extending beyond elections and could affect the stability and survival of the country.

He said elections were crucial for legitimising government and building institutions.

“If the people are convinced that there is no point, what is an election? Imagine the amount of money we waste to have elections that are totally meaningless because they do not legitimise anybody,” he said.

Utomi said strong institutions create predictable rules and reduce uncertainty. When abnormal practices become accepted, however, he argued that the cost of doing business rises and citizens lose faith in legitimate avenues for resolving grievances.

“What has happened to us, unfortunately, is because the abnormal has become so accepted that the transaction costs of engaging in Nigeria are such that we are only heading in one direction — ultimate collapse,” he warned.

He said the media had an important responsibility in preventing institutional decay.

Mbah: Press, government must meet at truth

Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah challenged journalists to strengthen investigative journalism and establish facts in the face of AI-generated misinformation.

He said government and the media might have different responsibilities but should ultimately serve the interest of Nigerians.

Joking that the conference had created a temporary “ceasefire” between government and the media, Mbah said:

“Government must be transparent about what it is doing and be accountable for the results. The press must establish the facts and report the truth.”

He urged journalists not to allow investigative journalism to become a lost art and said newsrooms should distinguish between information that merely attracts attention and issues that citizens genuinely need to know.

He added:

“Rigorous journalism is not about finding evidence to support a position already taken, nor should it become another arena for political grandstanding.”

Mbah used the opportunity to highlight his administration’s development programmes, saying the government was working to position Enugu as an economic gateway to the South-East, one of Nigeria’s top three states by GDP and a national leader in human development and quality of life.

He listed more than 1,500 kilometres of roads constructed or reconstructed, over 7,000 classrooms delivered, Smart Green Schools and Type-2 primary healthcare centres across the 260 electoral wards, restoration of water supply in Enugu metropolis, new transport terminals, CNG buses and the revival of dormant industries.

He also cited Enugu Air and the development of Enugu Smart City as part of the administration’s transformation agenda.

According to Mbah, Enugu had enjoyed strong collaboration with President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Government, particularly through increased support to states and interventions in roads, aviation, energy and regional development.

He said the concessioning of Akanu Ibiam International Airport would further strengthen Enugu’s role as a gateway to the South-East.

The governor, however, acknowledged that there was still much work to be done and urged the visiting editors to go beyond official claims and independently assess the changes taking place across the state.

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