Tinubu and 25 governors' cases to be decided by tribunals in September

According to an article on MobilePunch, there is anxiety as President Bola Tinubu and 25 state governors await the verdicts of the tribunals handling the presidential, governorship, National Assembly, and state assembly election petitions. The panels are expected to deliver their judgments this month. Most of the tribunals which were sitting in Lagos, Sokoto, Delta, Kano, and 21 other states as well as Abuja had reserved their judgments after the parties concluded their hearings and adopted their written addresses in line with the Practice Direction for the election petitions issued by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensen. 

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola had in November 2022 sworn in 307 justices to handle the 2023 election petitions while an additional 39 justices were inaugurated on May 25, 2023, totalling 346, and they were expected to deliver judgments before September 16. By law, the 346 justices sitting on the panels were mandated to hand down their judgments 180 days after the filing of the petitions by the aggrieved candidates. Section 285 (6) of the 1999 constitution provides that “an election tribunal shall deliver judgment in writing within 180 days from the date of filing of the petition.”