An Overview of Conflicting Judgments of Appellate Courts in Election Litigation in Nigeria

Abstract

If one is not confused by the series of glaringly contradictory judgments coming out of the 2023 general election petition
tribunals across the country, even up to the level of the appeal court, then one must be confusion personified. This is
glaring in the various governorship election tribunals in almost all the 29 States where elections took place in March,
2023.Forexample, in thecase of the Kano State governorship election petition, the judgment read in the courtroom was
different from the one contained in the Certified True Copy obtained from the same court. As a result of this
development, one begins to wonder what happens to the concept of “judicial precedents.”Doctrinal method of legal
research was employed in this work. In this article, attention would be focused on conflicting judgments of the appellate
courts in election litigation cases in Nigeria.