ABUJA– Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Friday decried what it described as the disturbing involvement of courts in the crisis rocking various political parties in the country.
NBA, the umbrella body of legal practitioners in the country, said it noted with concern that judges and lawyers have continued to meddle in the internal affairs of political parties, despite clear provisions of the Electoral Act, 2026.
Aside from condemning the indiscriminate granting of interim injunctions in domestic party disputes, the legal body stressed that Section 83 of the Electoral Act stipulates that no court in the country should assume jurisdiction over such cases.
It added that the law equally precludes courts from issuing interim orders, even when a suit is filed in violation of the Act.
The legal body decried that recent developments—particularly those arising from the interpretation and potential application of provisions of the Electoral Act 2026—raised serious constitutional, democratic, and rule-of-law concerns that require immediate intervention.
“What we now see are situations where actions are not only instituted in Courts by lawyers in clear violation of the Act, but Courts purportedly grant interim and/or interlocutory injunctions in clear contempt of statutory provisions of the law. This does not augur well for our democracy.
“Democracy will not thrive in a situation where lawyers and courts take actions and decisions that not only negate our laws but also do violence to them,” the NBA warned.
While vowing to initiate disciplinary action against lawyers who deliberately file actions aimed at procuring judicial interference in intra-party affairs, or who seek interlocutory orders in clear violation of statutory provisions, the NBA warned that the Nigerian judiciary must stay vigilant and resist being drawn into political theatrics.
The NBA called on the National Judicial Council to make regulations that will sanction any judge who knowingly assumes jurisdiction in matters clearly barred by law, grants orders in respect of intra-party disputes in violation of statutory provisions, or lends the authority of the court to partisan political maneuvering.
