INEC Chairman Moves to End Rising Pre-Election Court Litigations in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria – The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, has vowed to end the long-running culture of excessive pre-election court cases that he says undermine Nigeria’s democratic process.

Speaking at the 56th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Association of Law Teachers at the University of Abuja, Amupitan said the Commission recorded more than 1,000 pre-election lawsuits ahead of the 2023 elections.

“That is not democracy; that is litigation by other means,” he said.

He stressed that the solution lies in political parties obeying their own constitutions and the Electoral Act, stating that most disputes originate from flawed primaries.

“My goal is simple: to make the law an instrument of order, not chaos. When the law works, even the loser will willingly congratulate the winner,” he said.

Amupitan urged the National Assembly to strengthen legal frameworks and called on law faculties to shape a generation that sees law as justice, not advantage.

“We cannot continue to let the courts decide elections. Elections must be won at polling units, not in courtrooms,” he added.

NALT President, Prof. John Akintayo, commended the chairman’s reform stance, while Conference Chairman, Prof. Uwakwe Abugu, highlighted the role of legal scholarship in driving governance reforms.