rigging. This severely compromised the credibility of that Presidential election result. The new limit goes some way to minimise the risks of such undue and inordinate delays. It must be noted that the Law (Section 110) requires that results be declared forthwith after the counting which means that although there is a five day-period within which to announce results, the primary obligation is to make the announcement forthwith. Thus where the Commission has finished counting on the second day, the declaration should be done forthwith upon completion rather than wait for the fifth day. Also, in light of this, although the Electoral Court can extend the period, it is expected that it would use its discretion sparingly, in the interests of expediting the election process and bringing finality to the process which has fundamental consequences to the conduct of the affairs of the state. Any extension would therefore have to be well considered and reasonable. Computation of Certain Periods • The potential difficulty may arise in the area of computation of the periods regarding: Firstly, results’ declaration (which should be done within 5 days of the polling day), Secondly, the vote re-count, (which should also be completed within 5 days of the polling day) and Thirdly, the declaration of the vote-recount (which should be done within 5 days of the completion of the recount). This means in effect the period within which a recount must be completed runs concurrently with the period within which the election results must be declared, i.e. 5 days of the polling day. Assuming therefore that the results are declared on the fifth day of the polling day and a recount is ordered, it is unlikely to be completed within the stipulated period (there will only be a matter of hours to the end of the fifth day). This means the Electoral Court would be called upon to extend the days to allow a recount. It is better the sake of clarity to place a limit on the 12