Supreme Court refuses to hear 14 pre-election appeals, cites constitutional amendment

– The Supreme Court has refused to hear about 14 pre-election appeals on the grounds that they were caught by the amendment to a section of the constitution

– The amendment to Section 285 of the constitution requires the determination of pre-election cases by the trial court, within 180 days

– The apex court explained that all pre-election appeals that were not determined within the stipulated time are no longer valid, due to the effect of amendment

The Supreme Court has refused to hear about 14 pre-election appeals on the grounds that they were caught by the amendment to Section 285 of the constitution, which took effect from June 7, 2018.

In about 14 different rulings on Wednesday, January 23, the lawyers for the appellants were asked by two panels of the Supreme Court, headed by Ibrahim Mohammed and Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, to withdraw their appeals, Premium Times reports.

Tracknews.ng gathers that the amendment to Section 285 of the constitution requires the determination of pre-election cases by the trial court, within 180 days. It also gives the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal 60 days each to determine such cases.

The section also stipulates that such appeals should be filed within 14 days of the delivery of the judgment to be appealed.

The court subsequently refrained from making any consequential order and proceeded to strike out each of the appeals.

It said it no longer has jurisdiction to act on them or look into them, except striking them out of its list of cases, since the appeals were caught by the alteration.

The apex court explained that all pre-election appeals that were not determined within the stipulated 60 days are no longer valid, due to the effect of the 4th Alteration Act Number 21.

The two panels were then assigned to conduct “special court sitting” to clear the court’s list of all pending pre-election appeals relating to the 2015 elections that were still pending before the court.

Meanwhile, Tracknews.ng previously reported that the chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, reiterated the need to elevate more qualified justices to the Supreme Court to enhance the disposal of pending appeals.

Onnoghen made the remark in Abuja at the swearing-in of Uwani Abba-Aji as justice of the Supreme Court.