Appeal Court President: We’ve Received Over 600 Pre-Election Cases

The president of the court of appeal, Monica Dongban-Mensem, has made a new revelation.

She says the court has received over 600 pre-election cases. 

Dongbam-Mensem spoke on Friday when Samuela Isopi, an ambassador with the European Union, led a delegation to her office in Abuja.

She said the court started receiving the pre-election appeals in November 2022, noting that more were trickling in.

“The court received over 600 pre-election appeals in the 20 divisions of the court from November to date and more appeals are still being filed,” she said.

“Over 60 panels were set up in the various divisions to hear and determine all pre-election appeals filed. Mindful of the pressures under which the honourable justices are working, some experienced registrars of the court were empanelled to summarise the decisions so far made and distribute to the various divisions to avoid conflicting decisions.”

While commending the delegation for the visit, Dongbam-Mensem said the work of election observers played a role in the nation’s electoral reforms.

“Pertinent to state that the role of these observer organisations has greatly impacted the resolve to review the 2010 Electoral Act. The 2022 Electoral Act has introduced laudable innovations to strengthen our democracy and ensure credible elections. The court of appeal has reviewed, developed and expanded the scope of working materials for judges.”

She said insufficient funding has affected the operations of the court.

”In preparation for delivering its constitutional mandate, the court is faced with numerous challenges which include but are not limited to paucity of funds,” she said.

”To effectively manage the tribunals, deployment of ICT equipment and the need for continuous training of support staff with a view to enhancing their capacities and powers to effectively drive the electoral adjudication process.

”Permit me to state that the court is in a dilemma, we have just 21 days to the general election and the special intervention fund to conduct the election petition tribunal is yet to be released,” she said.

”It is expected that by now, provisions would have been made for the procurement of necessary materials and equipment needed for the smooth running of the various tribunals.

“Also, we ought to have organised further training for honourable justices, members of the tribunals and secretariat staff but we cannot due to paucity of funds. We are hopeful that these challenges will be soon addressed before the conduct of the general election.”