The Latin maxim “expedit rei publicae ut sit finis litium posits that “It is advantageous to the public that there be an end to law suits. This exemplifies that protracted litigation puts a strain on the judicial system and undermines the law’s role in dispute resolution, and so the public interest requires that disputes be resolved in some final form, rather than continuing indefinitely to drain the resources of courts and the parties.”
An alternative phrase is “Interest rei publicae ut sit finis litium”. Indeed, it is in the public interest that there should be an end to the litany of election petitions filed in respect of the governorship elections which held in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi States on 11th day of November 2023.
On Friday the 23rd day of August, 2024, the Supreme Court delivered judgments in the last set of appeals filed in respect of the Imo State, Bayelsa State and Kogi State Governorship election petitions. The apex Court dismissed all the different appeals by the petitioners as lacking in merit and unanimously affirmed the election of the respective Governors of Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi States. This is a huge legal victory in all ramifications. Congratulations to the Governors are in order. Congratulations are better than sorry. No judicial victory is a trifle. Not to talk of hard won victory secured in the apex and final Court in the land in highly contentious political cases that travelled from the various Governorship Election Petition Tribunals to the Court of Appeal before terminating in the Supreme Court.
Truth be told, apart from logistics and costs implications common to both sides, election petitions are a huge distraction to the office holder. You ignore it at your own peril. It is not amusing, not a child’s play either as the challenger(s) is/are serious and aggressively prosecute the petition(s). Election petition is a ticking time bomb that can detonate and have disastrous consequences on the mandate being challenged. Given its suis generis nature, until an electoral mandate is confirmed by final judicial pronouncement of the final appellate Court, it is still dicey. Anything can happen to the mandate in any election being challenged. A supposed winner may be adjudged the loser or the loser may be adjudged the winner by the final appellate Court. It has happened many times over. The mandate may be invalidated and fresh election or re-run ordered. Too many examples of this change in electoral fortune abound. The final appellate Court may affirm the mandate and declare that the petition is speculative, frivolous and lacking in merit. The recent judgments of the Supreme Court under review speak to this fact. The Oracle of the law, the Supreme Court, has spoken. The four year mandates of the respective Governors have, stricto sensu (in the strict sense), been signed, sealed and delivered. No more hurdles to cross!
The Supreme Court is the “final bus stop” in governorship election petitions. With the judgments in favour of the three Governors, all political distractions through the ingenious legal process of election petitions have been vanquished while fears about shaky mandate have been completely eliminated. In reality, and beyond the frenzy of judicial victory, it is now time, not just for governance, but good governance by the respective Governors. The reward for hardwork is more work, they say. The judicial imprimatur of the mandate is for the elected Governors to settle down to work for the people of their various States and deliver the dividends of democracy. What was the respective election promises for which they were elected Governors? What are the respective manifestos of APC (Imo and Kogi) and PDP (Bayelsa) under which they were elected as Governors? At the end of their respective tenures, none of the Governors will be excused for non-performance because they were distracted by critics or challenged up to the Supreme Court by their unsuccessful opponents sponsored by other political parties. Security and welfare of the people are the indices for posterity to judge good governance.
Beyond the euphoria of the sweet Supreme Court victory, the Governors of Imo and Bayelsa are second term Governors. This means that they are not learning the ropes of governance at a State level. They are indubitably experienced and sagacious. In practical terms, the Supreme Court victories connote that they have twin or dual assignments. First is the job of consolidation of their programmes and policies. The second bone to chew is climbing the slippery slope of succession politics. Any Governor will naturally be interested in or worried about who is taking over from him. One can only sincerely advise that they play down on the latter and optimize the former because fixation with succession politics can be a ruinous distraction. Succession politics is best played with impeccable performance spreadsheet by the incumbent. I pray they succeed in both while letting their good works speak for them and ease their respective succession agendas.
On the other hand, the Governor of Kogi is a first term Governor. He is definitely “learning the ropes” and has the arduous responsibility of stamping his feet on good leadership map. His preoccupation should be delivering tangible and intangible dividends of democracy knowing that his second term re-election will be dependent on his scorecard.
Generally, the victorious Governors should be magnanimous in victory, extend hands of fellowship to their opponents and unite their respective States. There can no sustainable development or progress without peace. The opponents or candidates who did not win should remember that tomorrow is another day. One who does not win today can win tomorrow. Too many examples abound. More importantly, there is absolutely no need to be a sore loser because it is in public interest that there should be an end to litigation (Interest rei publicae ut sit finis litium” which is an alternative Latin phrase for “expedit rei publicae ut).
A new normal is possible!
