‘ALTERNATIVE ELECTORAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION MECHANISM’ AS A PANACEA TO PROTRACTED ELECTION DISPUTES

Abstract

This paper attempts to appraise the use of alternative dispute resolution as a panacea to protracted electiondisputes in Nigeria. The hallmark of democracy in any given society is the conduct of free and fair elections.However, in almost every election, disputes are bound to occur and it is not easy for a party to concede defeatwhen he believes that the election was rigged in favour of his opponent. In Nigeria, election disputes are verycommon and they are treated as being sui generis. These disputes can occur between persons of the same politicalparty or between persons from two or more different political parties. Over the last two decades, the courts havebeen the appropriate venue for the ventilation of grievances arising from the conduct of elections. However, thelevel of public satisfaction with litigation generally in Nigeria is quite low and this also affects election petitions.The resolution of election disputes through litigation is fast losing its place due to factors such as delay, unduetechnicality and formality, proclivity to rule in favour of the incumbent power, bribery and corruption, high cost,etc. On the other hand, there are so many advantages of resolving election disputes through alternative resolutionmechanisms like negotiation, mediation, facilitated dialogue, etc. These benefits include speed, lesser costs,flexibility, cordiality, expertise, to mention but a few. The researchers find that Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR) presents a veritable means of resolving election disputes. The researchers recommend inter alia theenactment of a mandatory ADR statute and a flexible interpretation of provisions on limitation of time as part ofthe steps to encourage ADR in the resolution of election disputes in Nigeria.