Chairman of the House Committee on INEC, Bayo Balogun, says the proposed constitutional amendment will speed up election dispute resolution by ending Supreme Court involvement in governorship appeals.
The House of Representatives is pushing a constitutional amendment that would remove the Supreme Court from the appeal process in governorship election disputes, making the Court of Appeal the final arbiter.
Chairman of the House Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Bayo Balogun, revealed the plan on Tuesday while speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
The proposal, contained in a bill sponsored by Nnamdi Ezechi (Ndokwa East/Ndokwa West/Ukwuani Constituency), seeks to amend the 1999 Constitution and adjust electoral timelines to ensure post-election litigations are concluded before the end of a governor’s tenure.
Balogun said the bill would reduce the tribunal period to 90 days, the appeal process to 50 days, and require INEC to conduct elections no later than 185 days before swearing-in. He explained that this would prevent prolonged legal battles from spilling into a new administration’s term.
Under the current system, governorship petitions can move from the Tribunal to the Court of Appeal and then to the Supreme Court. If passed, the bill will limit such cases to the Tribunal and Appeal Court stages, while National and State Assembly disputes will also end at the Appeal Court.
“This will give us a spread, speed up the process, and remove unnecessary delays,” Balogun said.
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