Reps pass bill to conclude election petitions before swearing-in of elected officials

The House of Representatives has passed a bill for second reading that seeks to ensure all election petitions are resolved before winners of general elections are sworn into office.

The proposed legislation, titled “A Bill for an Act to Further Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Provide for the Determination of All Appeals Arising from Election Petition Tribunals Prior to Swearing-in of President-Elect, Vice-President-Elect, Governor-Elect, Deputy Governor-Elect, Members-Elect of the National and State Assemblies and for Related Matters (HB. 1154),” aims to amend the electoral process to prevent disputed mandates from taking effect before judicial review.

Sponsored by Mansur Soro, who represents Darazo/Ganjuwa federal constituency in Bauchi, along with five other lawmakers, the bill was debated and passed for a second reading during plenary on Tuesday.

If enacted, the bill will introduce a new subsection mandating that “all appeals arising from presidential, governorship, national, and state assembly election petition tribunals shall be determined by the appellate courts prior to the swearing-in of candidates declared as winners by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”

Furthermore, it proposes giving INEC the authority to “prepare its guidelines and timelines of activities to provide sufficient time for the determination of all appeal cases before the swearing-in of candidates.”

The bill aims to strengthen electoral integrity and prevent situations where candidates are sworn into office only to be removed by the courts after months in power.