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SUPREME COURT AND NEW ELECTORAL JURISPRUDENCE IN NIGERIA

By Femi Falana SAN Last Friday, the Supreme Court delivered 8 judgments in appeals arising from governorship election disputes.  While 5 judgments of the Court of Appeal were upheld, 3 were upturned.  The upturned judgments pertain to the cases of the governors of Kano, Plateau and Zamfara States.  Many stakeholders have commended the Supreme Court for the landmark judgments.  Apart from the concurrent judgments of the Tribunal and Court of Appeal in the Kano State governorship election petition which cannot be justified as voters were illegally penalised for the negligence of electoral officers, the Court of Appeal may be said to have relied on judgments of the Supreme Court in the other two cases. Specifically, the controversial theory of inconclusive elections became part of the nation’s electoral jurisprudence in the case of Faleke v independent National Electoral Commission (2016) 18 NWLR PT.1543.  The Faleke’s case justified the finding of the Court of Appeal to the effect the go