The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus
Keyamo has said that “those calling for quick determination of election
petitions are plainly ignorant or crassly mischievous”.
Keyamo said it would be impossible to amend laws and rules
of court to accommodate such an idea.
He made the assertion on Sunday in a post via his verified
Twitter handle.
The statement followed calls by some Nigerians, asking the
court to ensure speedy determination of election petitions before it,
especially the presidential election.
Some had also argued that May 29 swearing-in should be stopped
pending the determination of presidential election petitions.
But Keyamo said “Those who think by such a call they are
doing the Petitioners any good, do not realise that they are, in fact doing a
great harm to the cases of the Petitioners.”
He wrote, “THOSE CALLING FOR A QUICK DETERMINATION OF
ELECTION PETITIONS BEFORE MAY 29TH UNDER OUR PRESENT LAWS ACTUALLY WANT TO
DESTROY THE CASES OF THE PETITIONERS.
“Those calling for the determination of the Election
Petitions BEFORE the swearing-in ceremonies on MAY 29th under our present
electoral laws and Rules of Court and/or procedure are either plainly ignorant
or crassly mischievous.
“In future, it is possible to amend our laws and rules of
court to accommodate such an idea, but it is clearly IMPOSSIBLE under our
present circumstances.
“Those who think by such a call they are doing the
Petitioners any good, do not realise that they are, in fact doing a great harm
to the cases of the Petitioners.
“It is the Petitioners that need more TIME to prove their
cases and not necessarily the defendants. That is why the Petitioners are given
21 days to file and the defendants have 14 days to respond. And the Petitioners
have a further 7 days to reply, making a total of 30 days as against the 14
days of the Respondents.
“It follows that in leading evidence in court/Tribunal in
support of the Petitions, the Petitioners would also take more time. It is more
arduous to prove an Election Petition than to defend it.
“If these characters say a single point (let’s say the FCT
25 percent storm-in-a-teacup issue) should be set down for determination
immediately, would the Petitioners’ lawyers agree to withdraw and abandon all
other issues raised in their Petition and proceed only with that issue?
“Will they take that risk? Ask them privately. They know
better. This is because the rules of Election Petitions do not allow
Petitioners to prove their cases piecemeal.
“A Petitioner cannot pursue a single point up to the Supreme
Court and after losing, return to the Tribunal or Court and say he/she/it wants
to now prove other aspects of the case.
“Even that single point alone CANNOT be determined by the
Supreme Court BEFORE MAY 29th because of the time given by the rules for
parties to file their Notices of Appeal and exchange their briefs.
“It is indeed only the Respondent that can raise a
preliminary objection that can determine the Petition in limine (that is, at
the threshold). Even at that, the rules allow the Court/Tribunal to take the
objection together with the Petition itself and give one judgment at the end in
order to save time.
“So, this is a free advice to the advocates of pre-May 29th
determination of the Election Petitions: they are doing the cases of their
Principals (the Petitioners) great harm.
“They should realise that just as we say ‘justice delayed is
justice denied’, we also say ‘justice rushed is justice crushed’.”
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