The 2023 Elections have come and gone, just like other elections in Nigeria, with winners emerging and occupying various elective positions.

The Nov. 11, 2023 off-cycle Governorship Election in Imo, as in other elections, saw a winner emerge, this time, the incumbent governor, Sen. Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Recall that the Returning Officer in Imo, Prof. Abayomi Fashina, declared Uzodimma, winner of the election, having cleared all 27 council areas in the state and won a total of 540,308 votes.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party had 64,081 while the PDP candidate, had 71,503, coming behind the winner.

This however did not seem to go down well with other contestants, the likes of the Labour Party’s Sen. Athan Achonu and the People’s Democratic Party’s Sen. Samuel Anyanwu, who headed to the Court to challenge the outcome of the election.

After a journey from the Tribunal to the Appeal Court and finally to the Supreme Court,

Nigeria’s final arbiter, Uzodinma’s re-election was upheld, despite frantic efforts by the LP and PDP to convince the Court that irregularities marred the election and should not be overlooked.

The Labour Party and the PDP approached the tribunal alleging over-voting and non-compliance to the Electoral Act.

But the tribunal held that Uzodimma’s election victory aligned substantially with the provisions of the Electoral Act.

Legal team to the parties then approached the Court of Appeal for redress.

They asked the Court of Appeal to hold that the November 11, 2023 off-cycle governorship election was invalid for contravening the provision of the Electoral Act.

The appellants also accused Uzodimma of academic forgery.

Uzodimma’s lawyers urged the court to dismiss the requests for being an abuse of court process for lacking relevant evidence.

The Court of Appeal held LP failed to prove its allegations beyond reasonable doubt and equally dismissed the case filed by the PDP against Uzodinma’s victory.

But the appellate court eventually ruled in favor of Uzodimma, paving the way for the final verdict by the apex court.

Again, the Supreme Court, after lengthy deliberations, discharged the appeals of the LP and PDP describing them as “lacking in merit”.

This has however thrown up the question of whether elections are decided by the voters through the ballot or by the Courts of the land through judicial pronouncements.

One of the candidates in the election, Sen. Athan Achonu of the LP, in a recent media conference, commended the judiciary for bringing the matter of the election to rest, reducing distractions for the governor while paving the way for governance of Imo.

Achonu, while re-stating his commitment to the principles of justice and fairness that an ideal democracy should uphold, expressed reservations over the circumstances surrounding the judgment.

The former senator wondered whether the outcome of court proceedings would ever find reason to favor an opposition party, with the ruling APC openly but indirectly bragging about its control of the judiciary.

He argued that “ a dangerous and unhealthy political culture has been introduced by the ruling APC who manipulate election results and, in a brazen display of arrogance, tell the opposition to ‘go to court’.

“ It is now clear that in Nigeria, it is no longer the people who decide who wins an

election; it is the judiciary and the audacity of this practice, where the judiciary’s pronouncements outweigh the people’s votes, should alarm every patriotic Nigerian “, he said.

Achonu’s arguments remain strictly his opinion, however, it is important to note that the precedent of deciding almost all elections in a country through the courts is not only dangerous but an abuse of resources, time and energy expended on elections.

Recall that in January 2020, the Supreme Court annulled the election of Emeka

Ihedioha of the PDP, an election which had earlier been upheld by the Tribunal and Appeal Court, leaving much to be desired in the power of court verdicts over that of the ballot.

Nigeria must therefore, for avoidance of dangerous precedent and in recognizing and honoring the efforts of voters in an electioneering process, ensure that proper legislation is established to put the Independent Electoral Commission, the judiciary and any ruling party at any given time, in their right places.

This will, at the least, preserve the integrity of our elections and not turn our entire democratic institution into a mere circus.

Also, it will further reinforce the right to vote or to be voted for as enshrined, and manifested through the ballot.