Election Winners Shouldn’t Be Determined By Judges If INEC Properly Conducts Polls – Falana

A human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana has said the job of who wins an election is for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), adding that the judiciary should not determine winners of polls in Nigeria.

The legal luminary however said the failure of INEC to conduct elections that are devoid of acrimony was the reason why the judiciary had to step in.

Falana stated this while commenting on the Supreme Court’s verdict which affirmed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s election during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.

It would be recalled that the Supreme Court on Thursday, dismissed the appeal of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of Labour and affirmed the ruling of the Presidential Elections Petitions Tribunal that upheld the victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress in the February 25 election.

But during the interview, Falana said, “The Supreme Court’s verdict is not a judicial endorsement of the presidential election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“Even with the judgment, it is very clear that Nigeria has a long way to go to ensure that credible elections are conducted, elections that will be devoid of acrimony; elections that every one of us will be proud of.

“The presidential election is concluded; it should have been concluded in February, but it was just concluded by the Supreme Court. It should not be so. The judiciary should not determine the winners of elections. Judges are not seated to determine winners of elections. That is a job exclusively reserved for INEC if it’s done properly.”