Olisa Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has urged the judiciary to expedite action on the 2023 presidential election petitions.

He said it was possible to resolve the petitions within one week if the judiciary would act fast.

Speaking on Wednesday during the Morning Show on Arise TV, Agbakoba noted that if Ghana and Kenya could resolve their election petitions within a month, Nigeria could do the same.

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This followed an earlier statement where he recommended the quick resolution of the election petitions before May 29.

“Seven days is a good time to go. The fact that the constitution provides a time limit does not mean that time limit must actually run,” he said.

“The context of my call is that the polity is overheated. Peter Obi is being accused of treason and the DSS is also shouting about an interim government. The simple solution is to resolve the petitions.

“The question is not about if it is doable but if it can be done. Ghana finished its election petitions in 30 days. Why can’t we do the same here? We don’t need long days to do what is very simple.

“If Kenya could do theirs in 14 days, why can’t we replicate the same? There are procedures that the tribunal can follow to resolve the entire thing. I am concerned that the polity is overheated. Nothing says they must wait for the 180 days.”

He also faulted the silence of the court since petitions were filed.

“The judicial philosophy is that the court must be proactive. What is stopping the judiciary? Our democracy is fragile because of lack of judicial reforms,” he said.

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The ex-NBA president also disagreed with the federal government’s position that Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, incited violence with his statement on the outcome of the election.

“I don’t agree with Lai Mohammed that what Obi is saying is treason. If we analyse the situation, the problem is there is a likelihood of swearing in Tinubu on May 29 while the petitions are still unresolved,” he said.

“Why must we be in this continuous political quagmire when we can easily resolve it? We should strike the balance and give our best possible shot to push the petitions. The fear of treason and interim government will disappear when the petitions are resolved.”