Election Petitions (568)
"The courts, including the Supreme Court regards any purported primary election conducted by a State Executive committee of a political party contrary to the party Constitution, Electoral Act and party guidelines, on conduct of primary elections as an illegal primary and therefore not justiciable. See Emenike vs PDP (2012) ALL FWLR (Pt.640) 1261." Per ONNOGHEN, J.S.C. CHIEF S. O ADEDAYO & ORS. v. PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY & ORS.(2013) LPELR-20342(SC)
"It is settled that once the reasons given for change are not cogent and verifiable the case for change fails as in this case. In short what I am trying to say here is that in Ugwu v. Araraume, it was declared that error is not a cogent reason for substituting the party's candidate and not in compliance with Section 34(2).
"In contrast to pre-election disputes, post-election disputes as the term suggests could only arise from disputes over holding of the election or return of the election; post-election disputes under Section 145(1)(a) to (d) may be questioned on any of the following grounds:
"There is no provision in the Constitution giving any power to the respondent to invoke the provisions of section 137(1) thereof to disqualify a candidate sponsored or nominated by a political party for an election." Per Tabai, J.S.C.(Pp.71-72, para.G) ACTION CONGRESS & ANOR V. INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION(2007) LPELR-66(SC)
"From the foregoing it is my firm view that the respondent's powers to organize, undertake and supervise elections in paragraph 15(a) of the Third Schedule cannot be construed to include or extend to disqualification of a person from an elective office since such a disqualification necessarily involves the determination of the person's civil rights and obligations." PER TABAI, J.S.C.(Pp.65-66, paras.G-B) ACTION CONGRESS & ANOR V. INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION(2007) LPELR-66(SC)
"The disqualification of a person from any elective office under the Constitution involves the determination of that person's civil rights and obligations and which determination is, by virtue of sections 6 and 36 of the Constitution specifically assigned to courts or other tribunals established by law and constituted in a manner as to ensure their independence and impartiality.
"The Constitution had provided for the quorum of the tribunal which is two members. The Constitutional provision as to the composition of the panel cannot be subjugated to the provisions of the Electoral Act.
"What's more, long before the decision in OKOWA v. ERHOR (supra) this Court had the privilege of holding to the effect thus:- It has became rather unequivocally obvious, that the two motions in question although interlocutory in nature, were for all intents and purposes inherently set out to truncate or terminate the petition in limini.
"In the first place, the question of compliance with or failure to comply with any provision of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act does not raise any question of jurisdiction. Failure to comply may signal an irregularity but it does not go to jurisdiction.
"The Tribunal is established under Section 285(2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended by Section 9 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Second Alteration) Act, 2010).