Being passive aggressive refers to expressing negative emotions such as anger, resentment, or hostility—indirectly. If you’ve ever felt undermined by a colleague at work or subtly mocked by a friend, you may have been the recipient of passive aggressive behavior.

Instead of being overtly aggressive, passive aggressive people communicate their frustrations in ways that appear innocuous on the surface. Some people engage in passive aggressive behavior only once in a while or in certain contexts. Others develop an unhealthy pattern of masking their harmful motives.

Learn more about what it means to be passive aggressive, include common causes and examples as well as ways to deal with it.

Examples of Passive Aggressive Behavior

Passive aggression can be difficult to spot because it typically looks outwardly harmless. That’s partly why it’s so frustrating to deal with. You might have a sneaking suspicion that your co-worker, relative, or even partner is cutting you down, but they can maintain plausible deniability.

Still, there are some telltale signs that you’re dealing with a pattern of passive aggressive behavior. Examples include:

Ghosting: One classic type of passive aggressive behavior is ghosting. Cutting someone out with no explanation is one way that people use to express their resentment or anger while avoiding conflict entirely.

The silent treatment: Some people who are uncomfortable with confrontation may find ways to show you they’re upset rather than telling you. Examples include giving you the silent treatment, acting cold and distant, or slamming doors and cupboards.

Hostility masked as humor: Has anyone made a cutting, sarcastic remark or a cruel insult at your expense but written it off as a joke? Often, passive aggression is thinly veiled as humor.

Subtle sabotage: Passive aggression sometimes manifests as covert sabotage. Someone may ostensibly agree to do something–for example, to complete a task at work or do you a favor–only to perform poorly. They may undermine you by making excuses or procrastinating.

Two-faced gossip: Some passive aggressive people will put on a front, acting friendly to your face but talking negatively behind your back to others. This pattern is especially common in friend groups and the workplace.

Causes of Passive Aggression

Everyone displays passive aggressive behavior on occasion. This is especially common in situations where we don’t feel like we can speak up without picking a fight. For example, you may feel that you can’t communicate your frustrations to your supervisor at work directly. Instead, those negative emotions might come out in other ways.

There are a few possible reasons why someone may display a pattern of passive aggressive behavior. Potential causes include:

Conflict avoidance: Passive aggressive behavior is often used as a defense mechanism to avoid confrontation and conflict. This pattern of conflict avoidance can develop for many reasons, from a lack of healthy boundaries and effective problem-solving skills to a history of being invalidated or punished for assertiveness. For example, someone who was raised in a culture or family where direct communication was considered taboo might develop passive aggressive traits as an adult. Chronic stress and certain personality traits, such as neuroticism and introversion, can also play a role.

Trauma: Childhood trauma is a risk factor for displaying passive aggression later in life. People who were neglected or invalidated in their early years may feel afraid or incapable of expressing negative emotions directly.

Mental health conditions: Passive aggressive behavior isn’t necessarily a symptom of mental illness. However, studies indicate that certain mental health conditions–such as adjustment disorder, borderline personality disorder (BPD), eating disorders, and depression–are associated with higher levels of passive aggressive traits. Research indicates that many people with depression, for example, develop passive aggressive patterns as a form of self-sabotage.
How to Cope With Passive Aggression

It can be difficult to know how to deal with passive aggressive colleagues, friends, or family members. Here are a few ways to cope with passive aggressive behavior:

Stay calm: It may be tempting to get upset in the moment if you’re feeling attacked or defensive. But it’s more productive if you keep your cool. Try as hard as possible not to take the bait and become aggressive yourself.

Use humor to deflect: Making a joke can sometimes defuse a situation and disarm someone who’s made a rude, passive aggressive comment.

Consider their perspective: There is often an underlying reason for passive aggression. For example, is the other person feeling burned out and overworked? Unheard? Taken advantage of or taken for granted? Do they feel powerless or silenced? Take an empathetic stance and question whether you could do anything to help.

Work as a team: When you’re dealing with a pattern of passive aggressive behavior, it can be easy to question yourself. You may wonder if you’re reading too much into things or being overly sensitive. Get a “reality check” from someone you trust to find out whether they see the situation the same way you do.

Keep a paper trail: In professional settings, it’s important to document everything you do if you feel like you’re being undermined. To avoid being blamed for your colleague’s (or supervisor’s) performance, keep a paper trail by getting your communication in writing.

Communicate directly: Some people are passive aggressive without realizing how their behavior is affecting others. Direct, assertive, and respectful communication can sometimes stop passive aggression in its tracks. If someone makes a hurtful comment, try letting them know how you feel in the moment.

Disengage if possible: In some cases, passive aggression develops into a persistent, toxic pattern. If you’ve tried the above tactics and things aren’t changing, consider limiting your contact with the person in question. Speak to them only when necessary or not at all, and try not to take their actions to heart. At the end of the day, you can only change and control your own behavior.

A Quick Review

Passive aggressive behavior refers to expressing frustration and other negative feelings in an outwardly innocuous or “innocent” way. For example, someone may take out their anger on you by giving you the silent treatment or making an underhanded remark rather than talking to you directly.

Almost everyone is passive aggressive at times, but sometimes it can become a harmful pattern of behavior. This may be related to a history of trauma, a desire to avoid conflict, or the effects of certain mental health disorders. You can deal with passive aggressive behavior more effectively by staying calm in the moment, giving the other person space to voice their feelings, and setting healthy boundaries.

Health

We all want to put our best foot forward in a job interview. Sometimes, that involves exaggerations and white lies. In fact, most of the time it does.

A survey of employees and hiring managers from the Interview Guys, a career website, found that the majority of employees exaggerate and pad their résumés by overstating their qualifications. Some of the most common lies are about their skills and accomplishments, strengths and weaknesses, and previous job responsibilities.

Candidates also admit to lying when they tell potential employers that they see themselves still working at the company five years down the road. And they often inflate their likes and dislikes to match the organization’s values.

“Seeing how competitive the job market can be, many resort to lying or exaggerating to separate themselves from the rest of the pack,” says Mike Simpson, CEO and cofounder of The Interview Guys. “We found that over 77% of prospective employees feel pressure to exaggerate their competencies to try and gain favor with a potential employer, and almost 65% have also overstated their qualifications on their résumé when applying to a job that was in high demand.”

The greatest motivation for lying was to secure a job offer, says Simpson. “If it means landing a job, almost 83% of prospective employees would have no problem throwing in a white lie here and there in the application process,” he says. “From our study, other common motivations for lying include receiving a higher salary, receiving a better job title, and fostering better relationships with prospective coworkers.”

Telltale clues a hiring manager should look for

That’s a lot of lying. But hiring managers are onto them, saying they know a lie when they hear it.

“It’s their job to vet and weed out applicants, so the odds of an applicant lying and not getting caught are pretty low,” says Simpson. “Almost three-quarters of hiring managers can tell if someone wasn’t telling the truth during an interview.”

The biggest tell that an applicant is lying is when they clearly lack the knowledge or skill when answering specific questions. “Over 7 in 10 hiring managers that we surveyed said this was the biggest sign that a potential employee is lying during their interview,” says Simpson.

Other indicators include nervous behaviors, such as voice changes and fidgeting, and when an applicant’s response has an excess of detailed information. In addition to lying, there are a number of red-flag behaviors that could leave a bad taste in an employer’s mouth.

“These include talking poorly about past and current employers, being negative or overconfident, and answering questions with an unnecessary amount of detail,” says Simpson.

What to do if you suspect the candidate is lying

When hiring managers catch candidates in a lie, the most common response is to dismiss them as a candidate. The Interview Guys survey found that more than half of hiring managers wouldn’t think twice about rejecting a potential employee if they were caught in a lie. But if everybody embellishes, is that the right response?

It depends on the lie. Complimenting the company simply to gain the employer’s favor, or overstating how much your values align with the organization, might be overlooked, says Simpson. Overstating your experience, however, will likely get you shown to the door.

“Generally speaking, throwing in a white lie here and there during the application or interview process is a risky play,” says Simpson. “That being said, lies don’t necessarily correlate to performance.”

Fast Company

The federal government, through the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), has approved Transcorp Group as the Preferred bidder for acquisition of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).

The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, revealed this Tuesday at the inauguration of the 240 megawatts (MW) Afam 3-Fast Power Plant, owned by Transcorp, in Oyinbo, Rivers State.

Thisday

The Supreme Court has affirmed election of Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, sealing his victory over then incumbent governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, in the keenly contested 16 July 2022 election in the state.

The judgement of a five-member panel, on Tuesday, upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which had earlier on 24 March affirmed Adeleke’s victory.

It lays to rest the dispute over the outcome of the governorship election, and extinguishes Oyetola’s hopes of coming back to office after his momentary victory at the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in January.

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winner of the election in an upset that deprived Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) a second term in office.

Displeased with INEC’s result, Oyetola had approached the election petition tribunal in Osogbo, the state capital, to challenge the outcome of the poll.

The tribunal in its decision  in January ruled in favour of Oyetola by declaring him winner of the election, and sacking Adeleke who was just months in office.

Adeleke, who remained in office to exhaust his right of appeal, had appealed against the decision of the tribunal.

His appeal was successful.

Upholding Adeleke’s victory, the Court of Appeal in Abuja held that the tribunal was wrong in its conclusion that that the election in some parts of the state was marred by over-voting, the pivotal legal issue on which Oyetola built his case.

The court held that “the burden of proving the allegations of over-voting lies squarely with the respondents Oyetola and the APC).”

“It is inconceivable to assume that the testimonies of the respondents’ witnesses had any probative value,” the appellate court held.

The Court of Appeal noted that Oyetola and the APC “did not tender the voter registers and Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS machines,” which captured data of eligible voters at the Osun governorship election.

“Though the 1st and 2nd respondents (Oyetola and APC) relied on BVAS reports obtained from INEC to prove over-voting, they did not, nonetheless, call petitioner’s witness 1 to speak to the reports, that is, Exhibits BVR reports from INEC’s back-end server.

“In their pleadings,” Oyetola and APC “alleged that the results recorded and transmitted directly from the polling units were not taken into account and therefore accredited voters recorded in Form EC8A from the disputed polling units do not tally with the number of BVAS for the same polling units.

“Strangely, the tribunal, in its judgment, only relied on the table set out in an address of counsel to hold that over voting occured in an election,” the Court of Appeal said.

PT

The presidential election petition tribunal has adjourned for further pre-hearing, the case filed by the Labour Party and its candidate, Peter Obi.

Obi and the LP filed a petition challenging the victory of Bola Tinubu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the  election.

In the petition marked CA/PEPC/03/2023, Livy Ozoukwu, lead counsel to LP and Obi, said Tinubu “was not duly elected by the majority of the lawful votes cast at the time of the election”.

Amongst other allegations, they claimed that Kashim Shettima, vice-president-elect, had a double nomination in contravention of the electoral act.

The petitioners are asking the tribunal to declare Obi winner of the presidential poll or alternatively, order the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election.

At the pre-hearing session on Monday, Livy Uzoukwu, announced an appearance for the petitioners.

Lawyers to the APC, Tinubu, and INEC informed the tribunal that they had filed separate responses to the questions raised by the petitioners in their processes.

Afterwards, the five-member panel led by Haruna Tsammani, adjourned till Wednesday for further pre-hearing.

The court directed parties in the petition to identify all the witness statements and documents they would rely on or object to during the hearing of the petitions.

While Lateef Fagbemi is the lawyer for the APC,  Wole Olanipekun is representing Tinubu. Abubakar Mahmoud is the counsel to INEC.

The tribunal also adjourned the petition of the Action Peoples Party (APP) to Wednesday for further pre-hearing.

However, pre-hearing session for Atiku Abubakar’s petition and Allied People’s Movement (APM) is expected to hold on Tuesday (today).

Meanwhile, earlier at the court session, Action Alliance (AA) withdrew its petition against the victory of Tinubu.

Since there was no opposition from respondents in the petition, the panel dismissed the petition.

The Cable

The All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State have expressed hope for victory as the Supreme Court today determines the authentic winner of the July 16, 2022 governorship election in the state.

PDP candidate, Ademola Adeleke, was returned elected by the Independent National Electoral Commission, but the APC candidate at the poll, Adegboyega Oyetola, rejected the result and approached the Election Petition Tribunal to challenge it.

Independent National Electoral Commission had declared that Adeleke polled 403,371 votes, to defeat then incumbent governor Adegboyega Oyetola of the APC, who got 375,027 votes.

But Oyetola and the APC rejected the result of the poll and headed for the tribunal.

In its January 27, 2023 majority verdict, the Tertse Kume-led tribunal annulled Adeleke’s victory and declared Oyetola the winner of the poll.

However, a minority judgment by B. Ogbuli affirmed Adeleke as the winner of the poll.

Displeased, Adeleke and the PDP headed for the Court of Appeal, which on March 24 nullified the tribunal judgment and returned Adeleke as winner.

Oyetola and the PDP, who were disastified with the judgment, then headed for the Supreme Court, which held the matter on Monday and fixed judgment for today (Tuesday).

At the sitting of the apex court panel that heard the matter on Monday, the parties adopted their briefs and addressed the court after which the panel announced Tuesday for judgment.

Punch

Gunmen abducted 40 people from a church in a remote village in northern Nigeria, a local Christian group said on Monday, in the latest attack against worshippers.

Armed gangs, known locally as bandits, have been abducting people from villages, schools and highways mostly in the northwest of the country, where government security is thin.

Joseph John Hayan, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna state, said the attack took place on Sunday when gunmen attacked worshippers during a service at Bege Baptist Church, in Madala village, in Chikun local government area, Southern Kaduna.

Chikun is among two districts in Kaduna where ransom-seeking armed gangs are most active.

Hayan, however, said 15 of those kidnapped escaped from their captors on Sunday night.

"We have not heard any contact for ransom or anything from them (gunmen) concerning the remaining people and we pray that the abductors would be merciful to release the remaining 25 back to their families," Hayan said.

A Kaduna police spokesperson did not respond to calls and messages to their mobile phone.

Reuters

Thousands fleeing Sudan are stuck on Red Sea shore

Hanadi Al-Sir was among thousands who rushed to Port Sudan, hoping to get on a boat or a plane to escape fierce fighting between the army and rival paramilitary forces.

Ten days later she is still camped out in the sweltering heat at the Red Sea city with crowds of others waiting in tents and shelters to get their hands on a ticket.

"I sleep on the ground and I don't have money to book a hotel room. There's no services here," the 37-year-old said.

The city is a shipping hub and, in happier times, a tourist destination. But it has struggled to cope with the crowds of Sudanese, Syrians and Yemenis arriving every day.

Rooms are going for as much as $100 a night, too much for many of the refugees who are forced to sleep rough in public parks, under trees and outside government buildings.

UN and foreign diplomatic missions have set up bases there, competing for space. Saudi Arabia, which sits across the Red Sea from Port Sudan, says it has evacuated almost 8,000 people.

But many complain of a lack of communication and there has been a number of small protests.

"All I get are promises but I don't know when we will be evacuated," Sudanese engineer Ahmed Hassan, a Saudi resident, said.

Port Sudan has seen little fighting, but is bracing for the effects of a wider economic crisis.

A breakdown in banking and customs procedures has hit shipping activity, the local economy's main employer, a port official said.

The wrecked telecoms and banking systems have made it even harder for the refugees to get cash.

"They've made us powerless, we don't have privacy or freedom. I wish we never left Khartoum," said Salem, waiting under one of the makeshift tents. "We moved to find a way out, but there's no way out until now."

Clinics run by the Sudanese Red Crescent see about 400 cases a day, mainly Syrians and Yemenis, volunteer doctor Rawan Abdelrahman said. They are running short of medicines, supplies, and staff, she added.

Many of her patients are people who originally came to Sudan fleeing war in their own countries.

Restaurant owner Abu Munir says he is one of 5,000 Syrians waiting to get out.

"I came here nine years ago fleeing war and now war is driving us out in Sudan," he said, exhausted after spending more than a week on the street. "Our only hope is to go back to Syria despite the war at home."

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia to hold Victory Day parade amid tight security after drone attacks

Russia celebrates on Tuesday (today) the anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two with a parade in Red Square amid tight security following a series of drone attacks, including on the Kremlin citadel itself, that Moscow has blamed on Ukraine.

Victory Day is one of the most important public holidays in Russia, when people commemorate the huge sacrifices made by the Soviet Union during what is called the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, in which around 27 million citizens perished.

This anniversary is even more emotionally charged as Russia mourns thousands of soldiers killed in the nearly 15-month war in Ukraine which shows no sign of ending.

Russia is also reeling from drone attacks, including one on the Kremlin on May 3 which it said was an attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine, which is expected shortly to launch a counteroffensive to retake land, denies involvement.

Putin has repeatedly likened the Ukraine war - which he casts as a battle against "Nazi"-inspired nationalists - to the challenge the Soviet Union faced when Hitler invaded in 1941.

Kyiv says this is absurd and accuses Russia of behaving like Nazi Germany by waging an unprovoked war of aggression and seizing Ukrainian territory.

Putin, his defence minister and other senior officials are expected to review the Red Square parade, which usually includes tanks, intercontinental missile launchers and marching troops.

However, reflecting increased security concerns caused partly by the drone attacks, authorities have cancelled the traditional flyover. There have also been reports of fewer soldiers and less military hardware joining this year's parade as the Ukraine conflict takes a heavy toll on men and equipment.

Authorities nationwide have cancelled the "Immortal Regiment" processions, where people carry portraits of relatives who fought against the Nazis.

'SACRED BORDERS'

Putin will deliver a speech in Red Square, where he will be joined by leaders of several ex-Soviet republics. In last year's address he made no mention of Ukraine but slammed the NATO military alliance for expanding to Russia's borders and hailed Soviet heroism in resisting Hitler.

Since then, Finland - which borders Russia - has also joined NATO.

"May no one ever again encroach on the sacred borders of our Fatherland," said Patriarch Kirill, head of the powerful Russian Orthodox Church and a close Putin ally, as he laid flowers on Monday at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in central Moscow.

"But in order for this to be so, our country must be strong because a country that is feared is not attacked."

Asked on Monday about cancellations of some Victory Day events, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed Ukraine: "When we have to deal with a state that is de facto a sponsor of terrorism, then it is better to take precautionary measures."

As well as the attack on the Kremlin compound, Moscow also blames Ukraine for drone strikes over the past week on fuel depots, freight trains and multiple targets in Crimea, which Russia forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Moscow also accused Kyiv and the West of carrying out a car bombing on Saturday that wounded a prominent Russian nationalist writer, Zakhar Prilepin.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy annoyed Russia on Monday by movingthe day that his country marks the allied victory over Nazi Germany to May 8, aligning it with Western nations in a repudiation of its Soviet past.

Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova branded Zelenskiy a "traitor", saying he had betrayed the memory of Ukrainians who died fighting the Nazis.

** U.S. to announce $1.2 bln in military aid for Ukraine -source

The United States plans as soon as Tuesday to announce a new $1.2 billion military aid package for Ukraine that will include air defense systems, ammunition and funds for training, a U.S. official said.

Ukraine will receive 155-mm Howitzer ammunition, counter-drone ammunition, and funding for satellite imagery as well as various types of training, said the official.

The package is paid from Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funding which allows President Joe Biden's administration to buy weapons from industry rather than pull from U.S. weapons stocks.

The military aid, first reported by the Associated Press, comes as Congress and the White House debate ways to avoid a default on the nation's debt, with many Republicans demanding sharp cuts in domestic spending in exchange for lifting the debt limit.

However, members of both parties insist they support continued aid for Ukraine including top Republicans House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Kiev’s counteroffensive to ‘pave the way’ for dialogue with Russia — WSJ

The Kiev regime’s ostensibly possible counteroffensive may "pave the way" for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine by the end of the year with China being one of the mediators, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday citing European officials.

According to the newspaper, key representatives from the US National Security Council support the idea of holding the negotiations between Kiev and Moscow. That said, the US Department of State and the CIA are skeptical of the idea and would like to see the result of the potential Ukrainian counteroffensive before taking any diplomatic steps.

The Wall Street Journal also points out that this "shift in Western thinking" is occurring amid Western countries’ serious concern that they won’t be able to maintain the necessary level of military aid to the Kiev regime in the future. That said, some Western states want to see whether China is capable of defusing the conflict which also indicates a change in the way the West sees Beijing’s role.

Media conjecture about a potential counteroffensive by Ukrainian troops has been rife for several months running, with various potential trigger dates being publicly mooted. Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry highlighted that such open speculation within Western countries about expectations for an upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive only serves to confirm these countries’ direct involvement in the conflict.

On April 23, Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Alexey Danilov rejected calls for dialogue on settling the conflict with Russia demanding more weapons from the West. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow always supported holding negotiations but dialogue on the situation around Ukraine is possible only if Russia's legitimate interests and concerns are taken into account.

Reuters/TASS

On May 4, 2023, I tweeted on my Twitter handle that “Given that the FINALITY of election result is decided by the Court, except where the INEC-declared result is uncontested, it’s unconstitutional to swear-in a winner whose victory has not been affirmed by the Court. Where’s the law that says such a winner must be sworn-in? None!”

Since then, I have received a barrage of direct messages and requests to publicly speak more on this. So, to those who asked me and in the public interest, below are the short answers to your many questions:

Yes, inauguration of a new President on May 29 is not absolute, neither by the provisions of the Constitution, the Electoral Act nor any other written law.

And no, there won’t be any VACUUM if a new President is not sworn-in on May 29. The Constitution envisaged such an anomalous situation and thus copiously provided for the rainy day, as follows:

First, Section 135(1)(a) of the Constitution says that “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, a person shall hold the office of President UNTIL when his successor in office takes the oath of that office”.

If you pay close attention to above provisions, you will notice that the Constitution never said “until May 29” and it used the word ‘shall’ which - by settled legal interpretation - means ‘must’. That means that the incumbent President, despite exhausting his eight years, is not going anywhere until his successor is sworn-in and such a date could overshot May 29.

Now, you can see that this is not about Bola Tinubu, because, if you strictly follow the Constitution, neither Atiku, nor Obi (in addition to Tinubu) would be inaugurated as President on May 29 and Nigeria will still have a constitutional President.

You will also notice that since 1999, a lot of ‘successors’ or winners of elections, mostly of the gubernatorial kind, had taken their oaths of office AFTER May 29. So, where did this widespread notion that May 29 is sacrosanct or absolute come from? It came from mere custom or political expediency, not from any known black letter law.

Second, Section 136(2) of the Constitution says that “Where the persons duly elected as President and Vice President die or are UNABLE for ANY REASON whatsoever to assume office before the inauguration of the National Assembly, the Independent National Electoral Commission shall immediately conduct an election for a President and the Vice-President”.

In plain terms, what the preceding Section 136 is saying is that, apart from death, there are myriad reasons that could prevent or imperil the President-elect and the Vice, standing together, from assuming office on May 29 and heavens won’t fall.

One of such other reasons that easily comes to mind is a Court order, usually of an Interlocutory kind, emanating from the Tribunal on a Motion; or from an Originating Summons (not an election petition) succeeding before a Federal High Court on interpretation of the pertinent constitutional provisions on point, including particularly the said Sections 135, 136, in addition to Section 1(2) of the Constitution vis-a-vis the absolutism or otherwise of May 29.

To be clear, the Section 1(2) of the Constitution that is pertinent to this discourse provides that “The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any persons or group of persons take control of the Government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.”

In my view, both the Tribunal (under the Electoral Act) and the Federal High Court (under Section 6 of the Constitution) have concurrent jurisdiction to delve in the interpretation of these Sections as they impact on May 29.

Anybody saying that it is only the Election Tribunal that possesses an exclusive jurisdiction on this matter or that simultaneously and separately initiating such a Suit before the Federal High Court will abuse the process of the Election Tribunal is wrong, because the fundamental business of interpreting the Constitution (the organic law) is independent of, and should have primacy over everything else, including particularly a mere election petition before a narrowly-constituted ad hoc Tribunal.

Now, ponder this: If the result declared by INEC does not accord with the Electoral Act, it then follows that such result does not, ipso facto, accord with the Constitution, because the Electoral Act is a product of (and subservient to) the Constitution - the grundnorm. The river never flows backwards. Thus, any repugnancy in the Electoral Act must yield to the demands of the Constitution.

Thus, by virtue of the preceding Section 1(2) of the Constitution, inaugurating a new President on May 29 while the Court (as the final umpire) is yet to call the final result would mean that persons (or a group of persons) have taken control of the Government of Nigeria in a manner that does not accord with the Constitution.

The clearer and obvious way of understanding this conundrum is to think of it this way: If a new President is sworn-in on May 29 and subsequently, the Tribunal or the Supreme Court (again: the final umpire) invalidates the election, what would you say happened to the Government of Nigeria during the period the sacked President held office before the final judgment?

Unarguably, what happened is that, during such period, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and her government were taken control of in a manner that did not accord with the Constitution. This is a grave constitutional injustice that can never be undone. So, by all means, it should be avoided as the Constitution has enabled such under Sections 135 and 136.

While you ponder this, keep in mind that there is no express provision in the Constitution, the Electoral Act (the law that enables elections and transitions) or any other written law that strictly requires that a challenged winner of an election must be sworn-in on May 29.

Don’t get me wrong. I have no personal or political animus against any election winner. An election winner surely deserves the fruits of his victory but it must not be on May 29. It can be later or even not at all, if the Court - which is the final electoral umpire - fails to affirm his INEC-victory.

In the unique legal framework of Nigeria’s elections, INEC is not the end but the means to the end. That end is the Court (the judiciary) which alone possesses all the judicial powers of the Federation, including the final powers to declare winners of elections.

So, the smart framers of the Constitution, having figured that, some day, an occasion will surely arise where a winner may be unable for ANY REASON to be sworn-in on May 29, they inserted the implicit ‘tenure elongation’ in Section 135 but limited it by the provisions of Section 136 that requires INEC to ‘immediately’ conduct another Presidential election. If the intendment of this creative Constitution-making was not to ensure there’s no VACUUM, what then is its intendment?

Thus, in the clear absence of any law mandating that a swearing-in must proceed apace on May 29, the only reason (or justification) Nigeria had indulged in such crass unconstitutionality (or extra-constitutionality) since 1999 was political CUSTOM, and that’s because the country or the political class was desperate and thus minded to avoid anything that the military can latch on to continue in power.

Today, that custom, even though initially convenient and compelling is retrograde and can no longer stand because it is repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience. Above all, it is - by hindsight - incompatible with the Constitution and Laws of the Federation of Nigeria in several ramifications.

And mark my word: This thesis does not apply to the office of the President ALONE. It applies across the board. And until Nigeria gets its elections right or purges itself through a popular REFERENDUM, the judiciary should ensure that winners of disputed elections must not take power until the declaration of the final result by the last Court.

If politicians are made aware that power can only come after the courts (not INEC) have decided the result, it will work wonders in getting the greatest number of contestants and even INEC and political partisans to keep in line, play fair and desist from this mantra of ‘go to court’ which is a subliminal insult on the Constitution and the judiciary.

** Aloy Ejimakor, a constitutional lawyer, wrote from Abuja.