The Supreme Court, on Thursday, upheld the election of President Bola Tinubu in the February 25 presidential election while dismissing the petitions from his counterparts from the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and Labour Party’s Peter Obi.
Despite the judgment delivered by the apex court’s seven-man panel led by Justice John Okoro, Falana stressed that the nation is yet to maintain a strong footing on the conduct of elections that are devoid of acrimony.
The human rights lawyer made his submissions on Friday while he appeared on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme.
He said, “No doubt, the judgment of the Supreme Court ascended the electoral contestation as far as the presidential election conducted in February this year is concerned, but for sure, it is not a judicial endorsement of the conduct of the election by INEC.
“What I mean is that even with the judgment, it is very clear that Nigeria has a long way to go in terms of ensuring that credible elections are conducted, elections that will be devoid of acrimony, elections that all of us will be proud of, but we are still a long way from there even with the judgment.
“Yes, for now, the presidential election is concluded, it should have been concluded in February, but it has just been concluded by the Supreme Court and it should not be so. The judiciary should not determine the winners of elections.”
Falana stated that the nation must put an end to what he described as the shameful act of allowing the judiciary to have the final say in the determination of winners in elections.
“Judges are not suited to determine the winners of election; that is a job that is the exclusive reserve of INEC if things are done properly and that is why we must put an end to the shame that has become our law in terms of conducting elections,” he said.
He argued that the conduct of free and fair elections is not a herculean task as long as the nation’s political class is honest and dedicated to the conduct of transparent elections.
He added that being the most populous black nation on earth, Nigeria needs to set good standards for other black communities so as to avoid global embarrassment.
