ELECTION PETITION

It is important we educate the electorate on election petition considering what happened in Anambra state where INEC declare the election inconclusive, more so when our election year is by the corner. Most Nigerians condemn outcomes of election petitions ignorantly, forgetting that there are laid down procedures governing election petition.

What is election petition?               

 

This is the procedure for challenging the result of election at all level of government. Election petition is a special proceeding guided by a particular electoral law under which the election was held in Amaechi V inec (2007) the court of appeal per Adekeye held that the procedure in an election petition is largely governed by law made specifically to regulate the proceeding.

This is not unknown in countries like New Zealand, Hong Kong, India, Nigeria, United Kingdom etc

Section 151 of the Electoral Act of 2010 provide that an election or re-run of candidate can only be challenged by a petition otherwise referred to as ‘Electoral Petition’ filed in an appropriate court or tribunal. What this section is saying in essence is that for an election to be contested then the action must be by a petition and such petition must be brought in a court that has jurisdiction.

Election petition is different from all other civil matters, the exclusive right to hear the petition is conferred on election tribunal as it was held in Doukpolahga V George(1992)ANWLR(PT236)444

Section 285(1) of the 1999 constitution FRN make provision for the establishment of election tribunal which shall to the exclusion of any other court have original jurisdiction to hear and determine petitions.

What are the grounds recognized for petition?

Sections 156 of the 2010 election petition provide that an election may be challenged on the following grounds.

(a)    That the person whose election is questioned was at the time of the election no qualified to contest election.

(b)   That the election was invalid by reason of corrupt practices or non compliance with the provision of the act

(c)    That the respondent was not duly elected by the majority of lawful votes cast at the election

(d)   That the petitioner was validly nominated by unlawfully excluded from the election.

Content of election petition

(a)    the names of the parties (petitioner and respondent)

(b)   rights of the parties to bring the petition

(c)    the scores of the candidates at the election and the names of the person who was returned as winner.

(d)   The ground of the petition and relief sought

(e)   Prayer

(f)     Signature and address of the petitioner.

Please note that election petition has time frame, procedures and rights to bring a petition ,to  petition the outcome of any election consult a lawyer.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB )Bl

   

DEFAMATION; LIBEL AND SLANDER

The era of lazy journalism has damaged a lot of people’s reputation. The quest to make money and become famous over night as a writer, soft sell magazine publishers, face book journalism and blog lords has broken a lot of relationships/homes, left a lot of ladies and guys single or divorced.

There’s no point going for deliverance in churches and mosque ,all you need to do is enforce your right against whoever publish or say any defamatory statements that is capable of tarnishing your image and before you know it you will get judgment and reputation restored.

The law made provision for restoration of maliciously tarnished images by another, under the law defamation occupies a prominent place in the Nigerian law as it does in the law of other common law countries.

What is defamation?

Section 373 of the criminal code defines defamatory statement as one which tends to lower the plaintiff in the estimation of right thinking members of the society or expose him to hatred, contempt of ridicule or cause to other person to shun or avoid him.

Defamation is of two categories which are Libel and Slander.

Libel is defamation in the permanent form, the most common being which is written or printed in permanent form i.e. Magazines

Slander is defamation in transient form most often during the medium of spoken words. This does not include ‘YOU ARE A FOOL’ ‘BASTARD’

 

Where any of these two happen, as a private person or public person you have the right to sue the tortfeasor in both civil and criminal action for which the law provides a legal right to seek relief.

Section 375 of the criminal code provide penalty for anyone who publish defamatory statement with a term of imprisonment. It is not unknown in Nigeria that some journalists publish defamatory statements in order to extort the person the publication is directed to, where this happen such person shall be guilty of a term of imprisonment as provided in section 376 of the criminal code.

As a public or private person, it is time to say NO to defamatory statements.

The service of a lawyer is required in enforcement  of these rights against the offender.

Thank you.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi Llb(hons)Bl

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

The common mode of dispute resolution is going to court, over the year’s contractual relationship, family disputes, marital issues to mention a few are being settled by the court.

In this part of the world once issues are resolved in court, parties to the suit remain enemies for life as often said ’You don’t o to court and still be friends’ forgetting that court system is not there to spoil relationships but to define boundaries, and make each party liable in case of breach.

The attitude of people towards resolving issues in court for the fear of losing their business partner, severe family ties in cases of family disputes, another means was then introduced to resolve issues. This method is known as Alternative Dispute Resolution.

This method of dispute resolution is of two types, Alternative Dispute resolution which is court connected and other complimentary litigation methods that assist in getting to the quicker and acceptable dispute resolution.

The court connected ADR include the settlement of disputes by parties in court and settlement out of court through ADR mechanism which usually involves the use of appointed arbitrators while the other ADR which is not court connected involves the use of referees that is most time an independent party who is not in any way connected with the dispute.

The court rules and practices encourage parties to dispute to resolve matters amicably, section 24 of the high court law of Lagos state enjoins the court to promote and encourage reconciliation among parties, also order 17 rule 17 of the Abuja rules states that the judge with the consent of the parties, may encourage settlement of any matter before it through other lawfully recognized methods of dispute resolutions which are arbitration, conciliation.

This method of dispute resolution has so many advantages which includes easy access to justice, it saves time and cost and above all the process is less adversarial because the litigation system in the country adversarial in nature which often time discourages people from wanting to enforce their rights by going to court.

The parties who resort to ADR have total control over procedure, the settlement and contents and may at anytime back out if not comfortable with the process and resort back to court, it is a voluntary process.

 

The types of Alternative Dispute Resolution process include Negotiation, Mediation and Arbitration.

For more information on how the Alternative Dispute Resolution can be adopted talk to a lawyer.

Thank you.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi Llb(hons)Bl

ADOPTION IN NIGERIA

The presumption is that only couple who cannot bear children of their own adopts, this is untrue because adoption has changed over centuries with its focus shifting from adult adoption and inheritance issues towards children and family, its structure moving from recognition of continuity  between adopted and kin allowing relationships lessened intensity.

What is an Adoption?

Adoption is the process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities along filiations from the biological parents.

This is also the permanent change in status through legal status, also a way of giving back to the society.

An adopted child has the status of a legitimate child and shall be accorded with all the rights and privileges of a biological child.

Adoption benefits all the parties involved for an adopted child you have the love and support of the adoptive parent who are emotionally and financially equipped to parent, it is also a greater chance for good education. Adoptive family experience the joy of bringing a child to the family and also touching someone’s life positively.

Can an adopted child be married by the adopter and vice versa?

No, an adopted child can only have the status of a child and not the status of a spouse to either of his adopted parents, where such happen the adopter shall be guilty of an offence and liable for a term of imprisonment for 5 years.

Procedure for Adoption 

A written application of an intention to adopt, the director of social welfare will interview the applicants on a date convenient for both parties, payment of prescribed fees(this varies from state to state)Birth certificate of adopter, marriage certificate, medical certificate of fitness from a government hospital, employment letter, bank statement ,pay slip, tax clearance certificate for 3 years.

For further enquiries and counseling on adoption process the service of a legal practitioner is required.

Thank you.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi Llb(hons)BL

THE CONCEPT OF PLEA BARGAINING

I remember in January 2005 when the former inspector general of police, Mr. Tafa Balogun was alleged  and found guilty of misappropriation of public funds, he was arraigned in a federal high court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) he was convicted on a term of six(6)months imprisonment.

The general public criticized and condemned the judicial system because they felt the term of imprisonment was not enough considering the level of crime committed, this was also the case when the former Bayelsa state governor chief Diepreye Alamieyiegha and his  Edo state counterpart Mr. Lucky Igbinedion and former Chief Executive of Oceanic bank Mrs. Ceciia Ibru were convicted and sentenced on a term of imprisonment which is seen to be minimal compared to the crimes committed by hem.

The concept that was adopted is referred to as plea bargaining, this is an agreement in criminal case between the prosecutor and the defendant whereby the defendant agrees to plead guilty to a particular charge in return for some concession from the prosecutor. This concept is mostly adopted in order for both parties to avoid lengthy criminal trial and allow the criminal defendant to avoid the risk of conviction at trial on a more serious charge.

This concept is enshrined in section 14(2) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act of 2004,this concept is alien to our judicial system before it was introduced by the EFCC and does not form part of our constitution, this is why there are lapses and injustice to some because there’s no provision for it in our own constitution, there are plethora of cases where ordinary people have been subjected to full wrath of law for minor offences while public funds looters were charged and given the option of plea bargaining simply because they were arraigned by the EFCC.

Plea Bargaining is well known in countries like India, United States of America and other common law jurisdiction such as United Kingdom and Wales and it has helped the criminal justice system of various countries.

There are diverse opinions about this concept, a lot of legal luminary referred to it as unconstitutional practice in Nigeria which was smuggled into our criminal justice system because it was not provided for in the constitution but merely an EFCC concept.

Some stakeholders see it as a welcomed development but Nigeria is not mature enough for it because of the high level of corruption in our system and that this will only be a soft landing for looters of public funds.

Professor Itse Sagay said it will be a welcomed development if looters are stripped of what was stolen.

In my own opinion it is criminal to arraign treasury looters for several years without conviction or acquittal, the concept of plea bargaining should be included in our constitution, it won’t just be constitutional but will also be available to other minor offenders since conviction of an offender is to serve as deterrent to future offenders but before this is done, the judicial, executive and legislative arms of government should be reformed so  that they all can act independently without fear or favor.

What is your take on the concept of Plea bargaining as this blog visitor let’s hear your opinion.

Thank you.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi.blogspot.com