The growing role of the judiciary in determining the outcome of Nigerian elections came under intense scrutiny at the 22nd All Nigeria Editors Conference (ANEC) in Enugu, with speakers warning that democracy could be weakened when electoral contests are ultimately settled in courtrooms rather than at the ballot box.
From the keynote address by Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, to contributions by former Nigerian Bar Association President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, and political economist, Prof. Patrick Utomi, the conference repeatedly examined the question of whether courts should play such a prominent role in determining who governs after citizens have voted.
The concerns came against the backdrop of the 2027 general elections and growing questions over public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral institutions.
The conference, organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), was held under the theme, “The Ballot, the Media and the Task of Keeping Democracy Alive,” with the sub-theme, “When Lies Look Real: Detecting and Debunking AI Misinformation Before, During, and After Elections.”
The event was attended by prominent personalities, including NGE President and Editor of Vanguard Newspapers, Eze Anaba; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris; Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe; Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah; Jigawa State Governor, Umar Namadi; former Ogun State Governor, Olusegun Osoba; Vanguard Publisher, Uncle Sam Amuka; and other senior media and public figures.
Also in attendance were Prof. Auwal Yadudu, SAN; Chief Onyema Ugochukwu; Tunde Rahman; Prof. Stella Ọkunna; and the INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, who was represented by the Enugu Resident Electoral Commissioner, Chukwuemeka Chukwu.
Onaiyekan: Elections should be decided at the polls
Delivering the keynote address, Onaiyekan said democracy was fundamentally about government serving the people and elections should provide the mechanism through which citizens choose their leaders.
He expressed concern that Nigeria’s electoral system had increasingly evolved into one where the courts became the final battleground for political contests.
“The judiciary is supposed to be the last stage in the electoral process. It should be stressed that the judiciary is not to determine elections about who wins, but rather to adjudicate disputes when they arise,” he said.
According to him, properly conducted elections should significantly reduce the need for prolonged litigation.
“If elections were well conducted, there ought not to be any need for judicial cases. The tribunals were supposed to be there just in case,” he said.
The cleric, however, said Nigeria’s recent experience had seen elections increasingly determined through litigation.
“Our experience in the recent past has almost become that we have been witnessing a situation where our elections are being determined not at the polls, but in the courts by the tribunals,” he said.
Onaiyekan also criticised the prolonged legal battles that follow disputed elections, saying they create opportunities for highly paid lawyers to exploit technicalities.
He further expressed concern over allegations of unjust judgments by some election tribunals, saying such perceptions had damaged public confidence in the judiciary.
“There are allegations that are difficult to deny of unjust judgments by some judges in election tribunals,” he said, adding that the judiciary’s handling of recent elections had “seriously dented the image of this hallowed institution.”
He called for reforms aimed at restoring public confidence in the courts, including an independent electoral commission and changes to the process of appointing INEC leadership.
Onaiyekan also advocated a requirement that a presidential candidate should secure at least 50 per cent of votes cast to be declared winner.
Cardinal proposes electoral reforms
Onaiyekan proposed several reforms aimed at reducing the dependence of Nigeria’s electoral system on post-election litigation.
He called for the establishment of a special election tribunal dedicated exclusively to electoral disputes and required to conclude cases within a defined period.
He also argued that election petitions should be resolved before elected officials are sworn into office.
“More seriously, we must do all that is necessary to dispose of all tribunal cases before swearing in any candidate,” he said.
The cleric questioned the fairness of a system in which a declared winner assumes office and subsequently uses government resources while defending the election victory in court.
He also called for greater participation of ordinary voters in electoral litigation, arguing that citizens whose votes are at stake should have avenues to challenge disputed results.
“We who cast the votes and whose votes are at stake have no room to complain. This must change,” he said.
Onaiyekan urged Nigerians not to abandon democracy because of its imperfections, stressing that the ultimate goal should be a government freely chosen by the people and committed to the common good.
Osigwe raises concerns over election petitions
Former NBA President, Afam Osigwe, SAN, also raised concerns over the increasing number of election petitions in Nigeria.
Speaking on “Election Petition in the Digital Age: Independence, Evidence, BVAS,” Osigwe said Nigeria had become one of the countries with a high number of election petitions because courts were frequently called upon to determine electoral outcomes.
“I see that Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest number of election petitions, and all because the courts are very frequently involved in determining either the outcome or who won,” he said.
He recalled that the phenomenon had previously been described by a judge as the “judicialisation of the electoral process.”
Osigwe identified difficulties in proving electoral violations as one of the factors contributing to prolonged litigation.
He also questioned aspects of the evidential framework surrounding technologies such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
According to him, technologies introduced to promote transparency should not become additional barriers for candidates attempting to establish what happened at polling units.
He argued that IReV should receive meaningful evidential recognition in election petitions, even if it was not treated as the primary evidence of election results.
Osigwe also raised concerns about the treatment of subpoenaed documents and legal provisions that could prevent non-compliance with INEC regulations and guidelines from constituting grounds for challenging an election.
‘Go to court’ culture questioned
Osigwe also questioned the political practice of telling defeated candidates to “go to court” after disputed elections.
He said the expression could raise questions about the level of confidence political actors have in the electoral justice system.
The former NBA president also discussed public perceptions of corruption within the judiciary, while clarifying that he was not personally endorsing allegations of bribery against judges.
He said the perception that litigants might have to pay for favourable judicial outcomes was itself damaging to confidence in the justice system.
Osigwe further raised concerns about the perceived independence of the electoral commission and the process through which its officials are appointed.
Anaba: Protect the credibility of the ballot
NGE President, Eze Anaba, said the credibility of elections must be protected so that courts would not have to assume the role of citizens in determining who represents them.
“The credibility of the ballot must be protected so that the courts do not have to replace the citizenry in determining who should represent the people,” Anaba said.
He stressed the importance of credible information in enabling voters to make informed decisions and urged editors to provide citizens with accurate information about candidates, policies and government performance.
AI misinformation poses new threat
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, represented at the conference by the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, Ali M. Ali, warned that artificial intelligence-generated misinformation could pose a serious challenge to Nigeria’s electoral process.
He said AI had made it increasingly possible to create convincing photographs, videos, audio recordings and documents depicting events that never occurred.
“A false statement can be produced in the voice of a public official. A fabricated video can be circulated within minutes. An old photograph can be presented as a current event,” Idris said.
He urged editors to make verification a permanent newsroom culture by establishing the source of information, checking when and where photographs and videos were created, and independently verifying claims before publication.
He also advised journalists to clearly distinguish between fact, allegation and opinion.
“The job of a professional journalist is not to amplify every claim simply because it is politically attractive. The job is to establish what is true, provide context and allow citizens to make their own judgments,” he said.
Achebe calls for election misinformation response desk
The Obi of Onitsha and chairman of the conference, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, similarly warned that AI-generated misinformation could distort the information available to voters.
He noted that technology could now be used to create fake voices and videos capable of making public figures appear to say or do things that never happened.
“A voice that sounds exactly like a governor can now say what he never said. A video can place a candidate where he never was,” Achebe said.
He urged journalists to prioritise verification over speed, particularly as false information could spread rapidly through WhatsApp groups, family networks, town unions and community platforms.
Achebe proposed a joint Election Rapid Response Desk involving newsrooms to identify, verify and debunk viral falsehoods before they spread widely.
Using a metaphor, he described the ballot as the citizen’s voice and the media as the mirror through which citizens see the world.
“When the mirror is cracked, or worse, deliberately distorted, the citizen no longer votes from truth, but votes from illusion,” he said.
Utomi warns of consequences of weak institutions
Political economist, Prof. Patrick Utomi, warned that weaknesses in Nigeria’s electoral system could have consequences beyond elections and undermine confidence in democratic institutions.
He said credible elections were essential to legitimising government and building strong institutions.
“If the people are convinced that there is no point, what is an election? Imagine the amount of money we waste to have elections that are totally meaningless because they do not legitimise anybody,” he said.
Utomi argued that strong institutions provide predictable rules and reduce uncertainty, while the normalisation of abnormal practices increases the cost of doing business and weakens citizens’ faith in legitimate avenues for resolving grievances.
He urged the media to play a stronger role in preventing institutional decline.
Mbah urges media to establish facts
Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, challenged Nigerian journalists to deepen investigative journalism and establish facts in the face of increasingly sophisticated AI-generated misinformation.
Mbah said government and the media might have different responsibilities but should ultimately work in the interest of Nigerians.
“Government must be transparent about what it is doing and be accountable for the results. The press must establish the facts and report the truth,” he said.
The governor urged journalists not to allow investigative journalism to become a lost art, stressing the importance of distinguishing between information designed merely to generate attention and issues that genuinely matter to the public.
“Rigorous journalism is not about finding evidence to support a position already taken, nor should it become another arena for political grandstanding,” he said.
Mbah also highlighted some projects and programmes of his administration, including road construction and reconstruction, the delivery of classrooms, Smart Green Schools, Type-2 primary healthcare centres, restoration of water supply in Enugu metropolis, new transport terminals, CNG buses and the revival of dormant industries.
He also cited the operations of Enugu Air and the development of Enugu Smart City as part of his administration’s development agenda.
The governor said the state had continued to collaborate with the Federal Government, particularly on roads, aviation, energy and regional development.
He added that the planned concessioning of Akanu Ibiam International Airport would further strengthen Enugu’s position as a gateway to the South-East.
Mbah, however, acknowledged that more work remained to be done and encouraged the visiting editors to independently assess the changes taking place across the state rather than relying solely on official claims.
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