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Time Limit within which to File Pre-Election Cases: Delimiting the Supreme Court’s Interpretation of Section 285(9) of the Nigerian Constitution

This paper focuses on the constitutional time limit within which to file a pre-election case in Nigeria. The paper reviews the latest Supreme Court’s case on the issue of the interpretation of the provision of section 285(9) of the Constitution vis-a-vis the provision of section 15(2)(a) of the Interpretation Act. The legal basis for the Supreme Court’s contradictory interpretation of the law in previous cases on the issue is critically examined, and it is argued that the latest Supreme Court’s case on the interpretation of the section does not represent the law. The paper points to a better interpretation that accords with law and justice, and calls on the Supreme Court to clarify and straighten its interpretation of section 285(9) of the Constitution in a future case on the issue.