The Federal High Court of Nigeria announced that its registries will remain open on weekends and public holidays to accept pre-election filings [1].
This move ensures that legal challenges and candidate filings are not delayed by non-working days, which could otherwise lead to the expiration of strict constitutional deadlines. Because pre-election matters are time-sensitive, any failure to file within the statutory window can disqualify a candidate or invalidate a legal challenge.
The court issued the notice on Thursday [2]. The directive applies to all divisions of the Federal High Court throughout Nigeria [1], [2]. By extending operating hours to include weekends and public holidays, the judiciary aims to provide a continuous window for litigants to exercise their legal rights.
Court officials said the decision was made to ensure strict adherence to constitutional and statutory timelines [1]. The registries will serve as the primary point of entry for documentation required to initiate pre-election litigation.
This administrative adjustment removes the risk of litigants missing deadlines due to the intersection of filing windows and national holidays. The court's decision to open all divisions ensures that parties in remote regions have the same access to the filing process as those in major urban centers [1].
“Registries across all divisions will be open on weekends and public holidays”
This administrative shift reflects the high stakes of Nigerian election law, where missing a filing deadline by a single day can result in the total loss of a candidate's eligibility. By removing the barrier of non-business days, the court is attempting to reduce the number of appeals based on technical filing errors and ensure that the legal merits of pre-election disputes are heard rather than dismissed on procedural grounds.
