A coalition of civil societies and leaders of thought have called for the upcoming electoral cases in court to be televised and for the judgments to be delivered before the scheduled date of the swearing-in of newly elected election winners.
The group is inviting Nigerians to sign up for an appeal on comonvoice.ng, a non-partisan platform built to enable citizens and consumers to express their views on issues concerning their lives to the government and corporations.
In a statement issued by a professor of Strategy and Development and CIAPS Centre Director, Anthony Kila, the group observed that “the recently concluded 2023 elections have left Nigeria in a very divisive state with a significant part of the country considering the elections free and argue that elections results reflect the wishes of the people while another significant part of the country considers the elections highly flawed and considers the results unacceptable and that the dualism is causing a lot of tension in the country.”
Kila said: “As concerned citizens, we believe that one of the best ways to douse the tension in the country, restore unity and legitimise the incoming government is to make sure that all parts get a convincing, transparent and timely adjudication of electoral cases that will give all sides in the country a sense of clarity and justice that will bring an end to all ongoing controversies.”
To this end, the group is appealing to the Chief Justice of Nigeria to use his discretion to ensure that electoral cases in court are made truly public by ensuring televised coverage of proceedings and that the cases are adjudicated before the swearing-in date of May 29, 2023.
He said leading human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), as well as the National President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau, have backed calls for the televising of the presidential election tribunal proceedings.
