Afe Babalola decries inclusion of sitting judges in election tribunals

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Afe Babalola, on Monday, decried the inclusion of sitting judges in the election petition tribunals.

Babalola, who spoke at an event to mark his 60th birthday in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, advocated the inclusion of retired judges and SANs in the election tribunals.

He stressed that the total overhaul of the country’s judiciary can only be achieved with a new constitution.

The lawyer said: “Election petitions should not be handled by sitting judges. Litigations arising from elections should be decided only by the committee set up consisting of senior advocates and retired judges. In that case regular courts would not close down.

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“Let me say this clearly, our judiciary today needs a total overhaul and you cannot do it without a new constitution.

“I have about three cases myself in respect of matters arising from the university.

“For the past four years, these cases have been on. We have some judges here (tribunal), and the headquarters won’t be able to sit for many months because they are handling what they call election petitions.

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