FG mulls Electoral Mobile Court in judicial reforms

The Federal Government on Tuesday said it is planning to carry out a major review of the country’s electoral laws, and that the establishment of Electoral Mobile Court is a major electoral reform being considered as part of a wide range of judicial reforms that government is embarking on.

This was disclosed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), in Abuja while speaking at a stakeholders’ forum organised by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, led by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC).

According to Malami, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration intends to carry out comprehensive judicial reforms to address the challenges posed by some outdated electoral laws.

“My top priority as Attorney General of the Federation is to lay a solid foundation for a sustainable reform of the judicial sector where rule of law takes pre-eminence over and above rule of man.

“We have also identified as top priority, the amendment of the Electoral Act and other laws in order to empower INEC and other similar bodies to deal with perpetrators of serious offences. We cannot rule out the possibility of the imposition of sanctions to restrain those found guilty of electoral violence from participating in the electoral process,” Malami said.

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The minister further said that the establishment of Electoral Mobile Court is also a major electoral reform being considered by the President Buhari government, adding that some of the gaps in the electoral laws have manifested in the recent decisions of the Supreme Court on some of the election petitions.

“Also of concern to this administration are the increasing levels of electoral violence as seen in some of the recently held elections. It is my expectation that this stakeholders’ forum will come up with suggestions and proffer solutions to several of the challenges posed to the achievement of credible elections in Nigeria.

“I have begun consultations with the leadership of the National Assembly and the judiciary to identify key laws and priority areas for reform.

“Our priority areas will be clearly outlined in our justice sector reform that we will propose to the National Assembly and align it with their agenda in order to achieve reform within the tenure of this administration and in record time.

According to Malami, it will be important for the country to build on the gains of the 2015 general elections by entrenching a culture of democratic values that will strengthen the  nation.

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