The Influence of Politics over Law Electorates' Perception of the Akwa Ibom State Election Petition Tribunal and Court Verdicts

One of the major factors affecting democracy in Nigeria is the loss of confidence by the masses on the judiciary and its rulings when there is an infringement on individual or collective rights and privileges. This research examines the influence of politics over law specifically electorates' perceptions of the Akwa Ibom State election petition tribunal and courts verdicts. The survey research design was utilized in this study for the collection of factual data that are measurable and quantifiable. Data were collected using questionnaires as well as the aggregated observation of the researchers. The study also relied on systematic qualitative content analysis of secondary sources of data. Two hypotheses were generated and tested using Chi square X2 at 0.05 level of significance. This paper argues that the judiciary's handling of the case has been one that shows the pursuit of equity and justice rather than one which clings to the whims and caprices of political juggernaut, and at such, the court decisions have been independent of political preferences. It is recommended that political parties and powerful individuals should refrain from all illegal means to attain public positions which are the basis for election petitions. Also, if a re run election would be conducted, INEC officials are expected to be politically neutral, and security agencies must be on the look out to ensure peace and order. Emmanuel E. Etim | Augustine Akah | Dickson D. Agbaji "The Influence of Politics over Law: Electorates' Perception of the Akwa Ibom State Election Petition Tribunal and Court Verdicts" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-3 | Issue-5 , August 2019, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd25292.pd