Falana election warning urges credible 2027 polls, saying courts should not determine winners and voters’ choices must be respected
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana, on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, in Nigeria, called for reforms to the country’s electoral process, arguing that courts should not be left to determine the winners of elections after voters have cast their ballots.
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Falana made the call while speaking on Arise Television’s Sunrise Daily, where he raised concerns about the role of the judiciary in Nigeria’s democratic process ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The senior lawyer said the judiciary’s involvement should be limited by ensuring that elections are properly conducted from the outset.
“There is no indication yet that the Nigerian judiciary is positioned to address some of the challenges that may emanate with respect to some of the elections likely to take place in January and February next year,” Falana said.
He argued that allowing electoral disputes to routinely end with courts deciding who won could undermine the choices made by voters.
“For me, the first matter to address is the role of the judiciary in the electoral process in Nigeria. We must stop the practice whereby the court determine the winners of the election in Nigeria,” he added.
Falana’s comments come against the backdrop of Nigeria’s long-running pattern of post-election litigation, where candidates and political parties frequently challenge results before election tribunals and higher courts.
He said the judiciary should not rely on technicalities to overturn or undermine what he described as the popular choice of voters.
Falana pointed to the recent governorship election in Osun State as an example of why credible voting and transparent result management should be prioritised.
“We just had an election in Osun State, forget all the shortcomings, at the end of the day, the beauty of it will be that the governorship election will not go to court because the people have decided,” he said.
He maintained that preventing electoral disputes begins with the conduct of credible elections rather than waiting for courts to resolve problems after voting has concluded.
Falana also placed responsibility on the Independent National Electoral Commission, the media and voters to help ensure that results accurately reflect ballots cast at polling units.
“No fake results are announced, so that you limit the area that people might want to go to tribunal, the regular court, or the appellate court,” he said.
The lawyer’s strong intervention comes as political parties and aspirants intensify preparations for the 2027 elections, with debates increasingly focusing on electoral credibility, result transmission and the effectiveness of dispute-resolution mechanisms.
While election petitions remain an important constitutional avenue for challenging disputed results, Falana’s argument is that the process should begin with elections that are sufficiently transparent and credible to minimise the need for judicial intervention.
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His Falana election warning therefore centres on a broader principle: Nigerian voters should be able to determine their leaders through credible elections, rather than having the final outcome settled through prolonged legal battles.
