The Federal High Court has declared a short recess to allow its judges to vote in the presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday.
The recess, according to a circular signed by the court’s presiding judge John Tsoho, would begin on Wednesday (February 22) and end on February 28.
The February 20 circular said that there would be judges appointed to hear urgent cases from different parts of the country.
Under the arrangement, a judge will be appointed to hear urgent cases from the north, southwest and south-south/southeast regions of the country.
“The Administrative Judges of the Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt Judicial Divisions will ensure that a Judge is appointed to deal with the North, South West, South South/South East Geopolitical Areas respectively with respect to urgent matters during the term,” it said in part the circular
Nigeria is holding its presidential and National Assembly elections this Saturday.
Eighteen presidential candidates are fighting to take over from outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari, who would complete his second term on May 29.
On March 11, two weeks after the presidential election, gubernatorial elections will be held in 28 states. But the elections to the state House of Assembly will be held in the 36 states of the federation.
The Federal High Court hears most pre-election cases that emanated from last year’s primary elections conducted by various political parties.
Due to the large volume of pre-election cases brought by aggrieved politicians, the presiding judge, in November, constituted a special working group of judges to ensure their expeditious disposition.
A circular issued by the Chief Judge to that effect said that the judges who were members of the working group would suspend all regular cases in their respective courts, due to the urgency of time-bound electoral cases.
“In view of the large volume of pre-election cases filed so far; with the imminent risk of expiration, it has become necessary to set up a working group to quickly resolve issues, particularly in those judicial divisions with an excess of them,” Mr. Tsoho was quoted as saying in a statement by the court’s deputy chief information officer. , Catherine Christopher, Wednesday.
He said the members of the task force “will have four weeks to get rid of the pre-election cases.”
Mr Tsoho had issued a practice direction on pre-election cases in July 2022, which he said would “provide for a fair, impartial and expeditious determination of pre-election cases”, among others.