Grounds For Election Petition In Nigeria

Elections in Nigeria are mostly faced with a series of election petitions, which question the validity of results declared by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC). Though the election petition process in Nigeria is not devoid of laws guiding it, the several challenges, (difficulty in getting necessary documents from INEC but manual and electronic) often faced by a majority of the parties, most especially the Petitioners have often led to the failure of such petitions and by extension eroded the confidence of parties in the election tribunal.

What is an election petition?

An election petition is a process by which the outcome of any election is challenged. The applicable laws currently guiding election petitions in Nigeria include the Electoral Act 2022, Rules of Procedure for Election Petition, the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), and the extant Court/Tribunal Practice Direction. These laws have made adequate provisions