A senior lawyer, Femi Falana, has urged the National Judicial Council to investigate Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, on why he issued a ruling contradicting an earlier judgement by Justice Mohammed Umar over the Independent National Electoral Commission’s deadline for submission of party registers and database of members.
Mr Falana cautioned that the issuance of conflicting rulings by the same court on a matter already filed at the Court of Appeal in Abuja caused “unnecessary confusion” in the country and gave INEC the liberty to choose their preferred ruling.
The senior lawyer said Mr Omotosho should have waited for the outcome of the commission’s appeal before rushing to issue a different ruling on Tuesday.
“Justice Omotosho ought to have allowed the Court of Appeal to determine the validity of the judgement of Justice Muhammed Umar instead of issuing conflicting orders,” Mr Falana said in a statement.
He called on the judicial council to “speedily investigate the circumstances surrounding” the conflicting orders.
Last Friday, Mr Umar nullified INEC’s May 10 deadline for submission of party registers, directing the commission to adhere to the provisions of the Electoral Act prescribed submission of registers and databases four months to the election. The case was instituted by the Youth Party.
Given that the presidential election is scheduled for January 2027, party registers are expected to be submitted by September 2026.
The commission disagreed with the ruling and subsequently filed their complaint at the Court of Appeal on Monday where the matter was pending.
In a separate suit filed by the Social Democratic Party, Justice Omotosho of the same Federal High Court, Abuja Division, affirmed that INEC has the constitutional powers to draft election timetables and issue deadlines for the submission of party registers.
Mr Omotosho gave the ruling on Tuesday, a day after INEC appealed Mr Umar’s judgement at the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal.
Mr Falana condemned the conflicting orders and called for an investigation.
“The National Judicial Council and the Nigerian Bar Association should speedily investigate the circumstances surrounding the issuance of conflicting orders in the cases of Youth Party v INEC and Social Democratic Party v INEC,” Mr Falana said.
“The National Judicial Council had repeatedly cautioned judges to desist from issuing conflicting orders whilst lawyers have equally been warned by the Nigerian Bar Association to stop filing cases that are programmed to cause judges to issue conflicting orders,” he added.
