Every election cycle in Nigeria has three seasons. The campaign season belongs to the parties, the politicians and their godfathers. This is followed by the voting season, during which the security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) hold sway. Thereafter, matters shift to the courts for the dispute resolution season, which belongs to the lawyers (mostly Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANs) and judges.

Democracy may be about choices and decisions by citizens in theory. As practised in Nigeria, however, what is clear from these three seasons is that there is very little room in it for the average citizen. If they are anything, citizens are mostly spectators.

Election tribunals generally have about six months to decide on contested declarations by the INEC. With elections to federal offices concluded on 23 February and to state offices on 9 March 2019, we are now approaching the season where the courts must begin to announce their decisions. This is usually an uneasy time for candidates, parties, lawyers and judges alike.

Election petitions have become a major part of the work of judges around Africa and a defining moment in the public perception of the courts. Quite apart from being a moment of serious stress for the judges and lawyers who participate in them, election petitions are major sources of disagreements among judges.

In every election, the judges have the final votes. Of 1,490 seats contested federally and in the states in 2019, 776 (52.08%) will be decided by the courts. This is higher than 46.1% recorded in 2015 and 51% recorded in 2011 but lower than the high of 86.35% from the nadir of 2007.

Read More: https://thebelltimesng.com/2019/08/18/as-nigerias-judges-get-set-to-cast-the-final-votes-in-the-2019-elections/