Legal luminary and founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, SAN has suggested that separate judges should be constituted to preside over election petitions tribunals.
The legal luminary, who admitted that the judiciary needs a total overhaul, made the suggestion in Ado-Ekiti during the celebration of his 60th anniversary at the Bar.
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said that the separation of judges who preside over election tribunals and judges who preside at regular court is important to avoid the halt of cases unrelated to elections.
He suggested that retired judges and respectable SANs should constitute tribunal judges.
“Our judiciary today needs a total overhaul and you cannot do it without a new constitution,” he said. “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; the headquarters won’t be able to sit for many months because they are handling what they call election petitions.
“Election petitions should not be handled by sitting judges, they 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,” Babalola stated.
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