Legal icon and founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Afe Babalola, has said sitting judges should not preside over election petitions tribunals.
The legal luminary, made this known at an event in Ado-Ekiti to mark his 60th anniversary at the Bar, said the judiciary needs a total overhaul.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said judges who preside over election tribunals should be separate from regular court judges to avoid the halt of cases unrelated to elections.
He suggested that retired judges and respectable SANs should constitute tribunal judges.
He said: “For the past four years, these cases have been on. We have some judges here, the headquarters won’t be able to sit for many months because they are handling what they call election petitions.
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“Election petitions should not be handled by sitting judges, they should be decided only by the committee set up consisting of senior advocates and retired judges in that case regular courts would not close down.”
Babalola also said the judiciary needs a total overhaul, adding that it cannot be done without a new constitution.
He said: “Our judiciary today needs a total overhaul and you cannot do it without a new constitution. I have about three cases myself in respect of matters arising from the university.”
Dignitaries at the occasion include former President Olusegun Obasanjo; the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah; the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi; former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Emeka Anyaoku; human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), amongst others.
