You'll be fired, prosecuted if you compromise, Appeal Court President warns election tribunal officials

• Published date: 10 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

The President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem has warned officials deployed to election tribunals against compromising the process.

She urged the 350 officials to see their deployment as a call to serve their fatherland and not an opportunity for self-enrichment.

She warned that any of them found to have compromised the system in any form will not only be recalled and relieved of his/her service but will be prosecuted as recommended by the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC).

The PCA spoke in Abuja at a two-day capacity-building workshop for those who will serve as registrars, secretaries and others officials of the election tribunals.

She said: 'It is part of your obligation to discharge your duties with utmost good faith and not be carried away by little advances.

'Your integrity and that of the tribunal, and its members are in the public searchlight; you must therefore ensure you are not used as weapons to truncate the process.

'Ensure to live above boards so that you will not put the Judiciary into disrepute.

'Do not see it as an opportunity to make money to enrich yourselves, but rather, go there to build your name and your future as it is literally said that a good name is better than silver and gold.

'The court will not hesitate to deal with anyone found wanting in this regard.

'It is equally important to remind you that you must constantly relate with the Election Petition Tribunal Unit at the Headquarters at intervals and report matters you are uncertain about to forestall breaches in communication.

'For the sake of emphasis, it is important to state that petitions before the tribunals are time bound.

'It is therefore your utmost responsibility to ensure processes are properly and timely filed once they are brought to the Registry to forestall administrative injustice to the Parties before such matters are adjudicated.

'You must count yourselves worthy to have been chosen to perform in this regard.

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'Our choice is premised on trust, competence and confidence the court has in you, which I pray you do not erode while discharging your duties at the tribunal.

'Let me, once again, mention that the work ahead is enormous and you must indeed brace up for the challenges ahead,' the PCA said.

She stressed the importance of functional registries to the effectiveness of election tribunals and noted that the training was intended to arm the officials for the task ahead.

Justice Dongban-Mensem...