If the presidential election results are not challenged, the President-elect and his deputy will be sworn in on August 30.
If no petition is filed with the Supreme Court, the President-elect is sworn in on the first Tuesday following the 14th day after the date of the declaration of the result of the presidential election, according to Article 141(2)(a) of the constitution on Assumption of Office of the President.
If the election results are challenged, the swearing-in will take place on the seventh day following the date on which the Supreme Court issues a decision declaring the election valid, according to Article 141(2)(b) of the constitution.
According to Article 140(2) of the Constitution, the Supreme Court is required to rule on the petition within 14 days of its filing, and its decision is final.
Anyone who is dissatisfied with the president-elect’s declaration has seven days from today to file a petition with the Supreme Court.
This means that the deadline for filing a petition challenging the presidential election results announced yesterday is August 22.
If the Supreme Court dismisses the petition, the decision must be rendered by September 5, and the inauguration must take place by September 12.
Article 140 of the Constitution and the Supreme Court (Presidential Election Petition) Rules, 2017 establish a framework and timeline for hearing and deciding presidential election petitions filed in the Supreme Court. Article 140(1) states that anyone may file a petition in the Supreme Court to challenge the election of the president-elect within seven days of the results being declared.
According to the Supreme Court (Presidential Election Petition) Rules 2017, the petitioner must serve the respondents, who typically include the electoral commission, the president-elect, and the vice president-elect, within one day of filing the petition.
The rules also state that respondents must file and deliver their responses to the petitioner within four days.
The petitioner must then file a rejoinder within one day of the respondents’ filing of their responses.
If any of the parties wishes to file an application asking the court to make orders that they believe will help their case, the rules require them to do so within one day of the filing of the response to the petition.
Responses to the aforementioned applications must also be submitted within one day.
