THE JUSTIFIABILITY OF RE-RUN ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA: A REVIEW OF THE CASE OF ADELEKE V INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC)

Abstract

In a democracy, periodic elections are an imperative so as to avoid creating political lock-ups and/or narrowing of the political landscape which ultimately eliminates competition among political actors. Such elections must be conducted in such a manner that secures the highest level of credibility for the exercise. It becomes a necessity in such a situation therefore, that both the Electoral Commission who conducts the elections and the courts that adjudicate on disputed returns from elections must be unbiased umpires who are not interested in the outcome of the exercise in terms of boosting the political fortunes of persons and individuals. If the exercise must be successful and impact positively on the polity, it must be carried out in strict compliance with the provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral Act. Nigeria’s electoral system is founded on the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended, the Electoral Act 2010 as amended and subsidiary legislations made by the Electoral Commission pursuant to the powers vested on it by the Constitution and the Electoral Act. Worried by the havoc which re-run elections seem to have wrecked on the Nigerian polity and the seeming lack of legal authority for the conduct of such re-run elections, the author embarked on this research to enable the public to appreciate how the law stands in respect of this all impactful exercise. The author discovered that re-run elections in Nigeria is seemingly an affront on the 1999 Constitution as amended and therefore recommends that the policy of conducting re-run elections in Nigeria, as presently done by INEC should be stopped, forthwith, as it flies in the face of the Constitution of the country.