The president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, on Monday, October 16, 2023 transferred all pending election petition cases in the 36 States to Abuja and Lagos divisions of the appellate court.
Accordingly, all appeals arising from the judgement of the various election petition tribunals in the states, would now be heard and determined in Abuja and Lagos divisions of the Appeal Court.
Justice Dongban-Mensem also directed that only two of the 20 divisions of the court would determine all appellate cases arising from the judgements of the elections petition tribunals throughout the country.
The directive of the President of the Court of Appeal affects Governorship, National and State Assemblies’ elections.
It was gathered that Justice Dongban-Mensem action followed an avalanche of petitions and protests by political parties and their candidates alleging that the judges of the tribunals were seriously compromised by most State governors during the trial stage in their respective states.
The president of the Court of Appeal, it was gathered had launched discreet enquiries into the allegations against the governors and the judges at the trial tribunal.
It was further gathered that the enquiries established the veracity of the allegations to the extent that an unholy alliance was established between some governors and judges of the tribunals which led to perversion of justice at the trial level.
Some of the judges at the Tribunals were allegedly indicted and are likely to face trial by the National Judicial Council (NJC).
