Powers, Duties And Limitations Of Election Petition Tribunals In Nigeria: A Socio-Legal Analysis

Abstract

The exercise of the duties and powers of the Election Petition Tribunals (EPTs) in the democratisation process in Nigeria is imperative to producing legitimate leaders. However, there appear certain limitations to the discharge of this core constitutional duty such as corruption of Tribunal Judges and other challenges militating against the EPT. The objectives of this study were to examine the powers and duties of the EPT and the limitations. The study employed the use of mixed research methods consisting of doctrinal legal research and empirical methods. The doctrinal method consisted of primary sources of law including legislation and decided cases and the secondary sources of law used journals, texts and official reports. The empirical methodology adopted structured questionnaire administered to specific groups within the six geo-political zones of the Federation. Data obtained were analysed using multinomial logistic regression and estimated on two scenarios where the Respondents were pooled together and in each category. The results of the study from Judges and Magistrates, Legislators and Law Teachers (without categorisation) showed that the explanatory variables explain about 84%, 76% and 60% respectively of the challenges faced by the EPT and the functional statistics showed that the results were all significant. The qualitative analysis used personal interviews with selected persons in the legal profession. The findings of the study were that variables that correlate with the study positively or inversely are finance, appointment, political influence, and bribery which constitute challenges to the adjudication of election petitions in Nigeria. The study concluded that adjudicatory powers and duties by the EPT and Courts are continually challenged by several factors that hinder the democratization process.