Court refuses to order INEC to resume voter registration

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday refused to direct the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to resume the continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise.

Justice Inyang Ekwo said in a ruling that he could not make such an order with the 2023 general election “just days away”.

However, the judge stated that INEC “expects to…continue the registration, updating and revision of the voter roll up to 90 days before the February 25 and March 11 General Elections”.

“It is the constitutional responsibility of the Defendant (INEC) to ensure that all potential voters in Nigeria who have expressed their willingness to register to vote will not be deprived of their civil right to register and participate in the next general elections scheduled for February 25, 2023 and March 11, 2023,” he said. the judges

According to Mr. Ekwo, “this court cannot grant the plaintiffs number 3, as from the date of this judgment, the defendant will have few days to 90 days before the general elections. February 25, 2023 and March 11, 2023.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that four complainants; Mr. Anajat Salmat, Mr. Earnest Stanley, Chief Charles Okafor and Mr. Samuel Oluwakemi sued INEC on July 31 for failing to conduct voter registration.

INEC was the sole defendant in the case marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1343/2022.

The plaintiffs asked the court for three claims, including that “the defendant is expected to be sued in accordance with the provisions of sections 76 (2), 77 (2), 116 (2), 117 (2), 132 (2) and 132 (2). (5) and 178 (2) and (5) (as amended) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as well as sections 9 (1), 9 (6), 10 (1) and 12 (1) Electoral Act, 2022, voter registration, updating and revising voter registration to continue up to 90 days prior to the general election.

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“It is the defendant’s constitutional responsibility to ensure that all potential Nigerian voters who have shown their willingness to vote are not deprived of their civil right to register and participate in the forthcoming general elections.

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“The court’s order directing the defendant to immediately confirm the new voter registration, update and revision of the voter roll until at least 90 days before the general elections scheduled for February 5, 2023 and March 11, 2023.”

Giving judgment, the judge said: “The plaintiffs’ case therefore fails on the merits and I answer their only question in the negative.

“Also, I answer the defendant’s questions as follows:

“1. question, partially positive, and question 2, positive. “

NAN reports that INEC, in its argument, said it ended the CVR exercise at the time it was conducted because it needed to end the exercise so that the permanent voter cards (PVCs) could be printed on time, and distributed. the same thing could begin in earnest. (ID)

Editor’s note: This story originated from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and was updated with a new version of the news agency, which corrected the earlier erroneous report. The court did not order INEC to continue voter registration until 90 days before the 2023 elections as previously reported. The mistake is regretted.