Court of Appeal transfers all 2023 election petitions to Abuja, Lagos

The President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, has mandated the transfer of all pending petitions from the 36 states of the federation concerning the 2023 elections’ outcomes to the Lagos and Abuja divisions of the appellate court.

This directive signifies that all ongoing cases stemming from the decisions of various state election petition tribunals will now be adjudicated by judges in the divisions of Lagos and Abuja exclusively, encompassing gubernatorial, national, and state assemblies’ elections.

The rationale behind Justice Dongban-Mensem’s decision to designate only two out of the twenty divisions of the court for handling all appellate cases arising from tribunal disputes is attributed to the abundance of petitions and protests from political parties and their candidates. They allege that the tribunal judges were unduly influenced by governors during the trial stage in their respective states.

The President of the Court of Appeal conducted thorough investigations into the allegations against the governors and the trial tribunal judges, uncovering signs of unethical alliances that could have led to a miscarriage of justice at the tribunals.

Several tribunal judges were reportedly implicated and may face scrutiny by the National Judicial Council (NJC).

Commenting on this development, Hon. Thomas Ereyitomi, a member of the House of Representatives representing Warri Federal Constituency, welcomed the decision, emphasizing the importance of ensuring fair and impartial judgments. However, he acknowledged the financial implications that may arise from the transfer of these cases and expressed the willingness to bear the financial burden in pursuit of unbiased judgments.