OPEN LETTER WARNS OF ELECTORAL DANGER AS PARTY LEADERSHIP CASES FLOOD COURT OF APPEAL
By Solanke Ayomideji Taiwo
Abuja, January 8, 2026
A prominent political actor and civic advocate, Otunba Segun Showunmi, has issued a strongly worded public open letter to the President of the Court of Appeal, warning that Nigeria’s democracy faces a looming constitutional crisis if unresolved political party leadership disputes continue to clog the appellate courts.
In the letter, dated January 8, 2026, and addressed to the leadership of the Court of Appeal, Showunmi called for the urgent prioritisation and expeditious determination of pending appeals involving the legitimacy of political party executives across the country, arguing that prolonged judicial uncertainty poses a serious threat to the 2027 general elections.
Describing his intervention as one driven by “civic concern, not partisan interest,” Showunmi acknowledged the Court of Appeal’s central role in maintaining coherence in Nigeria’s electoral jurisprudence. He stressed that the court occupies a unique institutional position as the final arbiter in most pre-election disputes, making its handling of party leadership cases especially consequential.
“Nigeria has reached a point that may properly be described as engaging a doctrine of constitutional necessity,” Showunmi wrote, warning that the scale and persistence of intra-party litigation have created systemic instability within the political system.
Parties as constitutional vehicles
While noting that political parties are voluntary associations, the letter emphasised their special constitutional status, citing Section 221 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which restricts the sponsorship of candidates exclusively to political parties. According to Showunmi, this elevates internal party crises beyond private disputes, giving them direct constitutional and democratic implications.
He argued that unresolved leadership battles within parties inevitably spill into candidate nominations, pre-election litigation, and election management itself—often forcing courts into last-minute adjudication under intense political pressure.
Reliance on settled jurisprudence
Showunmi anchored his appeal on existing judicial authorities, reminding the Court of Appeal of its own precedents cautioning against the abuse of judicial process in intra-party matters. He referenced decisions such as Onuoha v. Okafor, APGA v. Anyanwu, and Eze v. PDP, where courts warned against forum shopping, multiplicity of suits, and the weaponisation of litigation for political advantage.
According to the letter, the present reality—where nearly all major political parties are enmeshed in leadership disputes at various appellate stages—risks replacing democratic competition with what he described as “procedural gamesmanship.”
Call for decisive case management
Without encroaching on judicial independence, Showunmi urged the leadership of the Court of Appeal to deploy existing procedural tools, including case consolidation, accelerated hearings, and firm appellate case management, to bring finality to these disputes well ahead of the next electoral cycle.
He argued that such action would not only stabilise the political environment but also protect the judiciary from being “inadvertently drawn into partisan strategy.”
“No constitutional democracy can function where the basic vehicles of political participation remain perpetually unsettled by litigation,” the letter stated.
Safeguarding 2027
The open letter concluded with a warning that failure to resolve these disputes in good time could undermine public confidence in democratic institutions and place avoidable strain on the courts during the 2027 elections.
Signed by Otunba Segun Showunmi, also known as Dan Maliki Kwalam, and issued under the banner The Alternative, the letter has begun to circulate widely among legal practitioners and political stakeholders, reigniting debate over judicial intervention in party affairs and the broader health of Nigeria’s electoral system.
As the country edges closer to another election cycle, the response of the Court of Appeal—and the speed with which it brings clarity to party leadership disputes—may prove decisive in shaping Nigeria’s democratic stability in the years ahead.
