2nd Alteration2010· Act No. 2, 2010
Constitution (Second Alteration) Act, 2010
Pre-election matters and the 180-day petition rule — the architecture of modern election litigation.
The record
The Second Alteration Act of 2010 created the constitutional skeleton of modern Nigerian election litigation. It introduced strict timelines for the resolution of pre-election matters (180 days) and for the determination of election petitions (180 days at the tribunal, 60 days on appeal), and it shifted the burden of providing election-petition jurisdiction wholly into the Constitution rather than the Electoral Act.
It is the Act that produced the now-familiar phrase 'time is of the essence' in Nigerian election jurisprudence. Petitions filed even a day outside the timeline are statute-barred — a rule the Supreme Court has applied without exception since ANPP v. Goni and CPC v. INEC.
The Act also tightened the qualifications for elective office under §§65, 66, 131, 137, 177 and 187 by reinforcing the disqualifications for indictment, dual citizenship by registration, and bankruptcy.
Sections altered
- §65 →
Qualifications for election into the National Assembly.
- §66 →
Disqualifications — indictment, allegiance, bankruptcy.
- §68 →
Tenure of seats and cross-carpeting consequences.
- §131 →
Presidential qualifications — codified the school-certificate requirement.
- §137 →
Presidential disqualifications.
- §177 →
Gubernatorial qualifications.
- §187 →
Deputy Governor — election and qualifications.
- §285 →
Detailed timelines for tribunals (180 days), appeals (60 days), and pre-election matters.
Notable cases
CPC v. INEC (2011)
(2011) LPELR-9012(SC)
Election petitions cannot extend the 180-day timeline; the period runs from the date of filing.
PDP v. CPC (2011)
(2011) 17 NWLR (Pt 1277) 485
Time begins to run from filing, not from service.
Tier 1 · primary
Courts. Gazettes. National archives.
Tier 2 · corroborating
OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.
Tier 4 · tertiary, flagged
Wikipedia only where primary is pending. Always labelled.