THE House of Representatives has expressed dissatisfaction over the determination of the outcome of elections by the judiciary.
The speaker of the House, Abbas Tajudeen, who spoke on Saturday, December 30, in Abuja ahead of the vacation of the House for the New Year holidays, said the situation has undermined the public confidence in the electoral process.
Abba stressed that elections ought to be decided at the polling units rather than courtrooms.
He further said that the House recognises the importance of electoral reforms in strengthening our democratic institutions.
“Consequently, we took the initiative to take the lead in soliciting citizens’ input on the Electoral Act 2022 and recommendations on strengthening it to deliver more free and fair elections and reduce the judiciary’s influence on the electoral process, “he said.
“The outcome of elections should be decided at the polling unit and not in a courtroom. The over-judicialisation of electoral outcomes has greatly undermined public confidence and could erode the legitimacy of political leadership if not quickly and adequately addressed,”he added.
The ICIR had reported how courts sacked several elected people in 2023 after the conclusion of election.
For instance, The ICIR reported that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja nullified the election of Governor Caleb Muftwang of Plateau State.
The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal also sacked Gabriel Suswam who represented the North-East senatorial district in Benue state from the Senate.
Abba Yusuf, Kano state governor was also sacked by the court of Appeal in Abuja after he had been sacked by the governorship election petitions tribunal.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.